Today’s papers – August 24, 2009

On August 24, 2009, SLATE announced that Today’s papers was discontinued and replaced by The Slatest.

The link to The Slatest is: http://slatest.slate.com/.

The explanation for the change can be found at: http://www.slate.com/id/2225909/ .

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Today’s papers – August 23, 2009

U.S. Shifts, Giving Detainee Names to the Red Cross

The New York Times leads with the Pentagon’s decision to release the names of detainees held at secret camps in Iraq and Afghanistan to the Red Cross. The military previously insisted that the detainees’ identities be kept classified for fear they could jeopardize counterterrorism efforts.

Red Cross efforts to obtain the names of detainees held at two Special Operations prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan have long been for naught, but the U.S. military has finally agreed to hand over the information. The new tack from the Pentagon, which came without a formal announcement, indicates a shift in detention policy in keeping with the Obama administration’s promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay by the end of the year. It also foreshadows a week where detainees and interrogations are likely to dominate the news: On Monday, the C.I.A. will release a long-awaited, critical report on its own interrogation techniques, and Attorney Gen. Eric Holder is expected to decide whether or not to begin a criminal investigation into C.I.A. interrogation policy after September 11, 2001.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/world/middleeast/23detain.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/us/politics/23cia.html

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Swine Flu Campaign Waits on Vaccine

The Washington Post leads with an unprecedented government effort in the works to vaccinate half of the U.S. population against swine flu “within months.” More than 2,800 local health departments are gathering medical personnel and developing strategies to reach as many as possible.

Public health officials are cooking up a plan for what one professor says is “potentially the largest mass-vaccination program in human history”—a sweeping effort to protect Americans against H1N1, the first influenza pandemic the country has faced in 41 years. The number of cases could spike within the next few weeks as schools and colleges reopen, but vaccination efforts are still fraught with uncertainty. Scientists are “rushing” to test the vaccine for safety, but they still don’t know how many shots people will need and what dosages should be. The campaign will not move forward until the results of clinical trials are in; the government is being cautious to avoid a repeat of a 1976 vaccination effort that caused more illness than it prevented.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082202337.html

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The Los Angeles Times leads with California legislators having a difficult time slashing the required $1.2 billion from the state’s ailing prison system. Federal courts ordered California to reduce its prison population by 40,000, and the state’s ongoing budget crisis makes deep cuts a fiscal necessity.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chemical23-2009aug23,0,2941213.story

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Clock ticks down on a deadly chemical stockpile

The LAT reports that the clock is ticking on the U.S.’s remaining stockpile of chemical weapons, which it is internationally obligated to destroy by 2012. Construction on the facility to destroy an arsenal of deadly gases in Kentucky has been endlessly delayed, and the Pentagon notified Congress in May that even on an accelerated schedule the job will not be done until 2021. The Army holds chemical weapons at six locations, four of which are currently incinerating their stockpiles. The Kentucky site is the most difficult operation because the weapons “are loaded in highly explosive M55 rockets and corroding, fully armed munitions.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-chemical23-2009aug23,0,2941213.story

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Daschle Has Ear of White House and Industry

Tom Daschle may have withdrawn his nomination to be President Obama’s “health czar,” but he’s still a key player in the debate over reform. A NYT front-pager reports that Daschle has met regularly with the president, and a “highly paid policy advisor” to Alston & Bird, a legal and lobbying firm with powerful health industry clients. Democrats are moving toward a health care solution centered on nonprofit insurance co-ops, a plan Daschle has promoted and that “happens to dovetail with the interests of many Alston & Bird clients.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/health/policy/23daschle.html

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‘Better to Be Deported Alive Than to Be Dead’

Cartels that smuggle illegal immigrants across the U.S.-Mexico border have realized they can extort money from other undocumented residents: their customers’ relatives. A gripping WP story reports that cartels have called family members demanding ransom, forcing them to pay up or make an equally frightening call to U.S. immigration officials.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082202356.html

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Calls to tax junk food gain ground

A front-page LAT story suggests that support for a junk-food tax is growing among the American population, though no one in Congress has endorsed it. According to a poll, 55 percent of Americans support a ban on “unhealthful snack foods,” and “63 percent of those who opposed the idea said they would change their minds if the revenue were used to fund healthcare reform and combat health problems related to obesity.” Junk-food taxes are “a no-brainer” to many health experts, but the numbers suggest they’re not as effective as other “sin taxes” because it’s easy to switch to an untaxed alternative.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-junk-food-tax23-2009aug23,0,5244082.story

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Rating High on Hollywood’s List: Immature Audiences

Well made big-budget movies for adults are disappearing, according to a trend piece in the WP “Style” section. “High-end, relatively sophisticated movies made with glossy production values and well-paid stars” are becoming scarcer because their actors’ salaries and marketing campaigns eat up so much of the studios’ profits. Movies tied to an already-successful book or video game—or better yet sequels in already-successful movie franchises—are less of a financial gamble and more likely to get a green light.

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Full article:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082004479.html

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A Grand Bargain Over Evolution

Slate contributor Robert Wright suggests a compromise between militant atheists and religious believers, who are both wrong about the conflict between science and religion for the same reason. “Believers could scale back their conception of God’s role in creation, and atheists could accept that some notions of ‘higher purpose’ are compatible with scientific materialism. And the two might learn to get along.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23wright.html

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The Insult Was Extra Large

NYT ombudsman Clark Hoyt responds to a deluge of mail complaining that a recent Times story seemed to mock J.C. Penney’s first store in New York City.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23pubed.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2226035/

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Today’s papers – August 22, 2009

Economy Is ‘Leveling Out,’ Bernanke Says

All the papers lead with news that the battered global economy could finally be on the mend. The Washington Post and the New York Times both top their front page with yesterday’s declaration from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the economy appears to be “leveling off,” his most upbeat assessment since the global meltdown began. “Prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” he told a gathering of economists and central bankers, adding that aggressive action by governments and central bankers around the world appeared to have successfully staved off the worst of the downturn.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101273_pf.html 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/business/economy/22fed.html

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Housing Lifts Recovery Hopes

The Wall Street Journal leads with news that sales of existing homes expanded by more than 7 percent last month, the fastest rate in more than 10 years, driving up global stock prices and prompting hopes that the U.S. housing market could be stabilizing after years of decline. The Los Angeles Times puts a glass-half-empty spin on the news, noting that California’s jobless rate reached a post-World War II high last month, climbing to almost 12 percent; even if the national recovery pans out as expected, the Golden State could be hurting for years to come.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125085108563549051.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-caljobs22-2009aug22,0,6343107.story

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Central Bankers Breathing Easier

The world’s central bankers struck a positive and slightly self-congratulatory tone yesterday at a retreat in Grand Tetons, on the back of strong reports from major European and Asian economies and signs that the U.S. housing market could finally be recovering from its lengthy swoon. Adding to the sense of optimism, the WSJ reports, stocks and oil prices rallied to their highest levels of the year, while European stocks posted their biggest gain for a month; the Post notes that even credit-card charge-off rates—a measure of hopelessly delinquent balances—fell last month for the first time since September, providing a glimmer of hope for the struggling industry.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125085771862849199.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125085283439549091.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125090733371250999.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103630.html

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Credit Card Payment Performance Improves

Still, it’s not all good news. Banks will continue to take credit-card hits until employment rates improve, and the Post notes that while things are looking up in Washington, D.C. and Virginia, unemployment rates are continuing to rise in 26 states. That means many banks will remain on the ropes; another bank collapsed yesterday, bringing the year’s total failures to 81, and analysts predict that hundreds more institutions will fail in coming months. To make matters worse, the bust banks have flooded the market: With few domestic buyers available, the federal government is now selling off defunct banks to foreign investors.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101636.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125089446936650523.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/business/economy/22fed.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103414.html

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Report Reveals CIA Conducted Mock Executions

The Post fronts word, via a late-breaking Newsweek scoop, of a long-concealed CIA report that found that agency interrogators staged mock executions using a handgun and an electric drill in an attempt to frighten a captured al-Qaida commander into giving up information. A redacted version of the report is due to be published Monday, following a lawsuit brought by the ACLU. The report is also believed to list a number of other incidents in which CIA and contracted interrogators overstepped their authority, in some cases violating international bans on cruel and inhumane treatment.

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Full article: http://www.newsweek.com/id/213188

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082200045.html

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Reports Revive Debate on Contractor Use

The CIA also remained under scrutiny yesterday for its reliance on private contractors, following the disclosure that the agency had used hirelings from Blackwater USA for elements of an assassination program; the Post notes that lawmakers this week criticized the use of private companies for “inherently governmental” activities like intelligence work. The NYT reports that despite publicly breaking with Blackwater, the State Department continues to pay the company more than $400 million to transport and guard diplomats in war zones and to train security forces at its base in North Carolina; the WSJ focuses on Afghanistan, where contractors now significantly outnumber military personnel despite the Obama administration’s efforts to reduce the Pentagon’s reliance on hired help.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103635_2.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/us/22intel.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125089638739950599.html

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Afghan Contenders Claim Leads

In Kabul, meanwhile, the WSJ reports that Presdent Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah both claimed significant leads as the vote count continued after Thursday’s election. Each candidate claimed to have garnered more than 50 percent of the total vote, the threshold for avoiding a run-off contest, raising concerns that their supporters’ impossibly high expectations might undermine the final result or even lead to ethnic clashes, potentially impeding international efforts to stabilize the country.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125087300076649629.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/world/asia/22kabul.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125089899772250685.html

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Lutheran Group Eases Limits on Gay Clergy

Members of America’s largest Lutheran denomination yesterday voted to allow the appointment of noncelibate gays to the clergy, reports the NYT, in what religious scholars called a watershed moment in American Christianity. “Today I am proud to be a Lutheran,” said one gay-rights leader after the vote; still, many conservative members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America were dismayed by the result, with some calling for “faithful” ministries to break away from the national church.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/us/22lutherans.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-lutheran-gay22-2009aug22,0,7741458.story

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Lockerbie Fallout Puts Scotland on the Spot

The WSJ reports on the Scottish government’s attempts to contain the fallout from its decision to release terminally ill Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi after TV images of the terrorist receiving a hero’s welcome in Tripoli sparked outrage on both sides of the Atlantic. The NYT notes that questions remain over the extent to which the decision to release al-Megrahi was influenced by efforts to clear the way for British companies to pursue lucrative oil contracts in Libya. In an editorial, the Post calls for the U.S. to impose sanctions against Libya unless al-Megrahi is placed under house arrest until his death. “To bestow freedom and the comforts of home on a man serving a life sentence for one of the most horrific acts of terrorism in modern times is a breathtaking abuse of power,” the Post declares. “There was only one appropriate way for Mr. Megrahi to have returned home: in a box.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125087716365449725.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082100288.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/world/europe/22lockerbie.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103326.html

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Obama’s healthcare messages are backfiring, strategists say

With Obama’s health care reforms strategists sayteetering, the LAT runs a pre-emptive autopsy of his strategic blunders: Democratic strategists say he wheeled out too many messages, and failed to give the public a clear sense of why reforms were necessary. Perhaps it’s just as well that the president is about to take a breather, notes the WSJ, leaving surrogates to continue the debate while he spends the week at Martha’s Vineyard. The Post reports that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle visited the White House yesterday and reportedly asked Obama to “get off the airwaves” while lawmakers attempted to reach a deal. The paper also eyes Senate negotiators’ efforts to build consensus behind a slimmed-down compromise bill but notes that it’s not clear that a smaller bill would be any easier to write or to pass.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-healthcare-pitfalls22-2009aug22,0,3787348.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125086665265549473.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103633.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103342.html

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Protecting the Fair’s Prize Pig From the Swine Flu

And finally, the NYT reports from state fairs across the country, where officials are grappling with a new health threat: bug-ridden sightseers are infecting pigs with swine flu. “The whole idea of the animals getting sick from people is a foreign concept,” says one state veterinarian. “But that’s what we’re looking at here.” It’s no laughing matter: Officials say that if the H1N1 flu strain is allowed to recirculate in pig populations, it could mutate into more virulent and deadly forms. In an attempt to insulate the prize porkers, officials at many fairs now bar visitors from petting the animals and are asking people to wash their hands before approaching the pig pens.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/22/us/22fairs.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2226033/

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Today’s papers – August 21, 2009

Afghan Election Called a Success Despite Attacks

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with, and everyone else fronts, Afghanistan’s presidential election, which was marred by low turnout and scattered violence. A steady campaign of intimidation by the Taliban over the past week kept many inside their homes. Officials were quick to declare that the vote had been a success, but the papers say it’s far too early to tell “whether bombs or ballots would ultimately emerge the day’s victor,” as the WSJ puts it. Declaring a winner could take at least two weeks, and a runoff seems likely.

There were no major episodes of violence in Afghanistan yesterday, as many had feared there would be, but the WSJ points out that the Taliban did manage to carry out 73 attacks across the country. According to official reports, election-day violence killed eight Afghan soldiers, nine police officers, nine civilians, a U.S. soldier, and a British soldier. The LAT specifies that early turnout estimates were below 50 percent, considerably lower than the 70 percent who voted in 2004. Many voters stayed away from the polls, particularly in southern and eastern provinces. The NYT highlights that in some areas of the South there were almost no women voters. But the low turnout was hardly limited to the extremely volatile areas. The WP notes that even in Kabul, where thousands of security officers were on duty, some polling places reported low turnout. It seems more voters showed up in the north, which should theoretically benefit President Hamid Karzai’s main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, and increase the chances of a runoff. Early-morning wire stories report that both Karzai and Abdullah claimed victory today.

While it’s easy and obvious to blame low turnout on the Taliban threats, the WP points out that some residents simply had no interest in voting. Some were simply disenchanted with politics, while others didn’t think there was anyone worthwhile on a ballot that contained dozens of names or saw it as a pointless exercise, since they were certain that Karzai would win. Counting the votes “in a vast country where donkeys were used to deliver ballot boxes to many remote villages,” as USAT puts it, will probably take a while. Although preliminary results were expected Saturday, the LAT says the first results won’t be available until early next week.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/world/asia/21afghan.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125074916908145527.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-election21-2009aug21,0,1144154.story

https://webmail.wpni.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090821/wl_nm/us_afghanistan;_ylt=Akp.OM7yAhr_R3eq7qyb0jSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTJzZWlzZXFvBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMDkwODIxL3VzX2FmZ2hhbmlzdGFuBGNwb3MDMgRwb3MDNQRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDa2FyemFpYW5kcml2

 http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-20-afghanistan-vote_N.htm

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The Deadly Cost of Swooping In to Save a Life

The Washington Post goes across the top of Page One with an investigation into the medical-helicopter business, which is now a competitive $2.5 billion industry that is lightly regulated. It is also one of the most dangerous jobs in the country, with 113 deaths for every 100,000 employees, a rate surpassed only by working on a fishing boat. Since 1980, 211 crew members and 27 patients have been killed in crashes that many experts say were largely predictable and avoidable.

The WP reports that even as crashes in the medical helicopter business have increased—2008 was the deadliest year—federal regulators “have acted as partners with the industry.” Helicopters aren’t required to have many of the very basic safety features of commercial airplanes. Meanwhile, the business, which is dominated by for-profit companies, has exploded. There are now around 830 medical helicopters competing for patients, and in some states the saturation is astounding. Kentucky, for example, has 26 medical helicopters for a population of 4.2 million, while all of Canada has only 20. This competition leads many pilots to take unnecessary risks to get a piece of the action. And while the government contends that leaving the industry lightly regulated increases competition and decreases prices, that has hardly been the case, as costs keep rising. Medicare spends $220 million a year to transport patients.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082004500.html

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Mortgage defaults soar to record 13%

The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how the growing ranks of the unemployed are increasing foreclosure rates among those with good credit scores and conventional home loans. According to one trade group, more than 13 percent of mortgage holders in the country were behind on their mortgage or in the process of having their homes repossessed during the second quarter of the year. It’s the highest figure since 1972. Experts worry that the increasing number of foreclosures could threaten the economic recovery.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mortgage-defaults21-2009aug21,0,4202530.story

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Cash for clunkers to end Monday night

USA Today leads with a warning that all those hoping to take advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program only have until Monday evening to make a deal. The $3 billion program has been more successful than expected and many dealerships have run out of the fuel-efficient cars that qualify for the program. Dealers are also a little miffed because it has taken a while for them to get their money back from the government, but the program has certainly helped boost demand for vehicles.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-08-20-cash-for-clunkers-endings_N.htm

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C.I.A. Said to Use Outsiders to Put Bombs on Drones

The NYT fronts word that Xe Services, the company formerly known as Blackwater, plays a pivotal role in the CIA program that uses unmanned drones to kill al-Qaida leaders. The private contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on the Predator, work that was previously done by agency employees. The Predators are launched from a remote base in Pakistan, and, the paper reveals, a second site in Afghanistan. On occasion, agency employees have accused contractors of doing their job poorly, particularly if the drone misses its target. In one case, a 500-pound bomb dropped too early, leading to a frantic search for the unexploded bomb that was ultimately found 100 yards from the original target. This is a reminder of how the CIA “now depends on outside contractors to perform some of the agency’s most important assignments,” says the paper.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/us/21intel.html

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Detainees Shown CIA Officers’ Photos

The WP reports that the Justice Department is looking into allegations that military defense attorneys in Guantanamo unlawfully showed detainees photographs of CIA personnel. Apparently, the lawyers were trying to determine who the officers and contractors who carried out harsh interrogations in the so-called black sites outside the United States were. Researchers trying to shed light on the interrogation program took the photographs, sometimes outside the home of CIA officers. If true, this illustrates just how aggressively lawyers and human rights groups are pursuing this information. But defense attorneys say it’s just an attempt to intimidate them and change the subject away from the CIA’s interrogation tactics.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082004295.html

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Faith in Obama Drops As Reform Fears Rise

The WP reports on a new poll that shows public confidence in Obama is slipping. Less than 50 percent of Americans are confident that he will make the right decisions for the country, which is down from 60 percent when his presidency hit the first 100 days. His overall approval rating stands at 57 percent, 12 points lower than in April, while his disapproval hit an all-time high of 40 percent. A full 42 percent disapprove of how he’s dealing with health care, and 52 percent back a government-run health insurance plan, also known as the “public option,” which marks a decline from 62 percent in June. The decrease in support for the public option is particularly notable among independents and seniors. One bright spot for Obama is the economy, as more Americans are optimistic the recession will be over within the next year.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/20/AR2009082004305.html

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Rise of the Super-Rich Hits a Sobering Wall

The NYT says that while many proclaimed the return of multimillion-dollar bonuses is just another example of how the rich always end up winning, “a significant change may in fact be under way. The rich, as a group, are no longer getting richer.” They’ve become poorer over the last two years, and may not get back to their old levels of wealth anytime in the near future. Of course, it’s difficult to feel sympathy for someone who still has $4 million, even if he did once have more than $100 million, but some economists think this trend could elicit some broad new trends. One of the more interesting ones is whether the fact that there will be fewer obscenely wealthy people will mean that the average middle-class worker will be a little better off. Or, as the NYT puts it, “the question is whether the better metaphor for the economy is a rising tide that can lift all boats—or a zero-sum game.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/business/economy/21inequality.html

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Runner Caster Semenya has heard the gender comments all her life

Meanwhile, the question of whether runner Caster Semenya is really a woman has raised interest across the world, but, in South Africa, many have taken up her cause and are outraged by the question, particularly the idea that Westerners are judging an African woman based on appearance alone, reports the LAT‘s Robyn Dixon. Semenya became an instant worldwide sensation Wedneday, when she beat her nearest rival in the 800-meter race by 2.45 seconds. But many immediately questioned whether she was really a woman and she was asked to undergo a variety of complex gender tests. For many in South Africa, it quickly became another example of how Westerners attempt to minimize the achievements of a black African woman. But the request should have hardly surprised the 18-year-old, who has been teased about looking like a man since she was a little girl. “They’re jealous of my daughter,” her mother said. “It’s the first girl in the black people doing such things. That’s why they say those things.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-south-africa-runner21-2009aug21,0,5294672.story

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A-List Stars Flailing at the Box Office

Will this be the year that kills the A-list movie stars? Well, it’s a trick question because the biggest movie star in the world—Will Smith—didn’t open a movie this season. But so far, everyone below him hasn’t fared too well, notes the NYT. Films starring the likes of Denzel Washington, Julia Roberts, Adam Sandler, and Tom Hanks, to name a few, have failed to deliver, giving more ammo to the studios’ eternal quest to cut down on the $20 million paychecks. Needless to say, agents and actors are biting their fingernails and thinking up excuses. Now the question is whether Bradd Pitt will be the next to fall with Inglourious Basterds. “Stars will always be important,” the chairman of Universal Pictures said, “but the industry is definitely seeing a transformation in their ability to open movies.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/21/movies/21stars.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225871/

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Today’s papers – August 20, 2009

C.I.A. Sought Blackwater’s Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists

The New York Times leads with word that the CIA hired contractors from Blackwater USA to take part in an assassination program that targeted top al-Qaida operatives. Blackwater is a private security contractor, now known as Xe Services LLC, that has come under scrutiny for using excessive force against Iraqi civilians.

The Washington Post also leads the news in its late edition, and while it gives credit to the NYT for first reporting the story, it takes it a step further by saying that the whole of the assassination program was outsourced to Blackwater in 2004 and the private contractor was given “operational responsibility for targeting terrorist commanders.” For its part, the NYT isn’t clear as to whether the contractors were going to be used to kill or capture al-Qaida suspects or just for training and surveillance in the larger program. Regardless, the program was canceled before any missions were actually carried out.

The NYT says that one of the main reasons why Leon Panetta, CIA’s director, informed Congress of the agency’s assassination program was that he found out about the involvement of the private contractor. The Post explains that the program itself was launched in 2001, but it was revived under a different code name in 2004 using the outside contractor. The NYT states that while the CIA has used private contractors for a variety of controversial efforts, including interrogation, many were uncomfortable about using a private company for assassination-related work. Au contraire, says the Post, it was precisely because they were using a private contractor that the CIA allowed itself to restart the once-moribund program. “Outsourcing gave the agency more protection in case something went wrong,” a source tells the paper.

The NYT says that Blackwater’s involvement in the assassination program ended years before Panetta informed Congress because senior CIA officials were concerned about using private contractors for such a purpose. But interestingly enough, the paper says there was no actual contract with Blackwater for the program, but rather, the CIA had “individual agreements” with top officials from the company, which makes the whole thing even stranger. The WP‘s sources say the effort, known as a “targeted killing” program, was meant to be expanded to other countries beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. There were apparently three versions of the program over eight years, each with a separate code name. In total, the agency spent “well under $20 million” throughout the eight years, says the Post. But, as has been reported before, the program never really got past the training stage. “We never actually did anything,” said a former official.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/us/20intel.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081904315.html

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Iraq bombings kill 95

The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with, and everyone else fronts, the deadly day in Baghdad, in which a series of coordinated attacks killed 95 people and injured more than 500. Most of the dead were casualties of the two massive truck bombs that hit the foreign and finance ministries in heavily guarded areas of downtown Baghdad. It was by far the deadliest attack since June 30, when U.S. troops withdrew from urban areas, and the WSJ says it might have been the deadliest day in Iraq in more than a year. The Iraqi government quickly blamed al-Qaida in Iraq and followers of former President Saddam Hussein for the attack.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-bombs20-2009aug20,0,5622431.story

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-08-19-iraq-attacks_N.htm

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2 Blasts Expose Security Flaws in Heart of Iraq

While much of the attention about Iraqi violence has recently focused on conflicts between Kurds and Arabs in the country’s north, the blasts in Baghdad served as a grim reminder that the old sectarian conflict is far from over. The NYT describes a scene of frustrated U.S. troops who couldn’t get involved to help deal with the aftermath because they now have to wait for requests from the Iraqi government, which “apparently never came.” USAT, however, says U.S. servicemembers were hardly sitting on their hands. While they may not have taken control of the bombing scenes, they did help guide rescue crews and provided intelligence.

The LAT notes that while some recent attacks targeted Shiite civilians in what seemed to be a brazen attempt to restart a sectarian war, these latest attacks “seemed designed to send the message that [Prime Minister] Maliki is failing to protect even his own government’s facilities.” Indeed, Maliki said the attacks were “a vengeful response” to his recent optimism that led to ordering the removal of the blast walls that were once a common sight in Baghdad’s streets. The barrier protecting the Foreign Ministry was recently removed. Iraqi officials were quick to recognize that the attacks demonstrate how far they still have to go in order to effectively protect the population from terrorist threats. “The criminal attacks that happened today require without a doubt a reevaluation of our security plans and mechanisms to face terrorist challenges,” Maliki said.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-08-19-iraq-attacks_N.htm

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-bombs20-2009aug20,0,5622431.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081900533.html

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Key Senator Calls for Narrower Health Reform Measure

In an interview with the WP, Sen. Charles Grassley, the key Republican in the health care negotiations of the Senate finance committee, seems to suggest that he makes his governing decisions based on who screams the loudest. The anger expressed in the town-hall-style meetings this month has convinced him that the government needs to scale back its overhaul efforts. Those who want to reform the system are “not quite as loud as people that say we ought to slow down or don’t do anything,” he said. “And I’ve got to listen to my people.” He insists he still wants to reach a bipartisan agreement but that legislation needs to be smaller and cheaper since there is great concern over the national debt, considering how much money has been spent to prop up the economy.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081904125.html

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New Rx for Health Plan: Split Bill

The WSJ fronts word that Senate Democrats are in discussion with administration officials about breaking the health care legislation into two parts. Seeing little chance of bipartisan support, key Democrats are thinking about passing the most expensive provisions of the health care bill only with votes from members of their own party. They hope this will help get a bill to Obama before the end of the year. Certain budget-related measures can pass in the Senate with 51 votes, rather than 60 as is usually the norm, through a procedure known as reconciliation. Recently Democrats have come to the conclusion they could use this tactic for a big chunk of their health care plan, perhaps even the “public option”—the government-run insurance plan—but no one is quite sure yet. Then other parts of the legislation that are seen as less controversial, such as forbidding insurers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, would more comfortably get the 60 votes.

Democrats say there’s now a 60 percent chance the two-bill tactic will be used, although it’s unclear who’s running up the odds on Capitol Hill. In an interesting tidbit, a senior Democratic aide tells the paper that the statement by Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that led to all the outrage when she suggested the public option wasn’t essential was all part of a strategy to see how Republicans would respond. The fact that several key Republicans dismissed the suggestion as mere theatrics and refused to get behind the idea of nonprofit insurance cooperatives told Democrats that it would be nearly impossible to reach bipartisan consensus.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125072573848144647.html

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Administration Makes Progress on Resettling Detainees

The WP reports that the White House is making progress in its quest to find new homes for Guantanamo detainees who have been cleared for release. So far, six European Union countries have agreed to take detainees, while four others have told the administration privately they want to help. In addition, five EU countries said they’re considering it, and the White House plans to expand the search to other nations around the world. Still at question is the fate of 98 Yemenis, whom the United States wants Saudi Arabia to take. Many lawmakers are vehemently opposed to bringing detainees to the United States, and while administration officials thought that would make it more difficult to convince other countries to take them in, it hasn’t been as bad as many anticipated. “Obama has a lot of political capital,” explained a senior official. “Countries want to do something for him.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081903801.html

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Don Hewitt dies at 86; creator of ’60 Minutes’

The LAT fronts, and everyone covers, the death of Don Hewitt, who, as creator of 60 Minutes, changed the face of television journalism. In 1960, he made the medium an essential part of politics when he produced and directed the first debate between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. He spent his career at CBS News and will be most remembered as creator and executive producer of 60 Minutes, the show that launched the TV newsmagazine genre, using a formula that combined journalism and show business that would later be copied numerous times. It became a top-rated TV program and showed that news could make money at a fraction of the cost of scripted programming. Later, that would become the formula for programs that would skew heavily toward entertainment news and prized sensationalism above all else. He was 86.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-don-hewitt20-2009aug20,0,2980319.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/business/media/20hewitt.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081901811.html 

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Life After ‘Slumdog’ Full of Promise — and Skeletons

The WP catches up with the child stars of the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire, which “has been a roller coaster of personal tragedy and red-carpet glamour.” Azhar Mohammed Ismaill, 11, recently moved into a two-room apartment bought by the film’s director. But his co-star, Rubina Ali, 9, still lives in a shack next to an open sewer. The two may be “experiencing at warp speed the masala of euphoria and turmoil that India’s vast poor feel as they emerge from the iron bonds of caste and class,” writes Emily Wax. But at the same time, their diverging fortunes also tell “the story of an India where some are forging ahead while others struggle and worry they will be left behind.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081904006.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225812/

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Today’s papers – August 19, 2009

Democrats Seem Set to Go It Alone on a Health Care Bill

The New York Times leads with news that in the face of stiffening Republican opposition to health care reform, Democrats look increasingly likely to quit wooing minority lawmakers and focus instead on building support among their own ranks. In theory, that should allow Democratic leaders to cut through the noise and push through more speedy and substantive reforms; still, going it alone is no guarantee of success.

The Washington Post leads with a report on Democratic infighting over the White House’s apparent shift away from the public option, a move that riled progressives and threatened to derail the broader debate. “I don’t understand why the left of the left has decided that this is their Waterloo,” sighed one senior White House adviser. “It’s a mystifying thing.”

Democratic leaders yesterday accused Republicans of reflexively opposing health care reforms in an attempt to score political points against the Obama administration, reports the NYT. “The Republican leadership,” said White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, “has made a strategic decision that defeating President Obama’s health care proposal is more important for their political goals than solving the health insurance problems that Americans face every day.” Party leaders now intend to pour their energy into mustering Democratic votes for the proposals; the WSJ notes that much will depend on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who some Democrats worry may not be forceful enough to push through the reforms.

The broader issue, though, is whether going it alone will help Democrats sell health care reform to an increasingly skeptical public. The Postnotes that following the public-option brouhaha, Democrats are increasingly concerned that Obama’s bipartisan approach effectively ceded control of the national conversation to the reforms’ opponents. Now, the WSJ says, Obama will likely try a new tack, addressing broad emotional themes rather than allowing himself to get bogged down in detail. Still, the public-option debate continues to rumble:

The LAT and the Post both run op-eds arguing that the public-option spat is a sideshow distracting from more important matters, while in an editorial the NYT argues that if Democrats do decide to snub Republicans, they should go all-in and push for a robust public plan.

Meanwhile, the LAT off-leads with a look ahead to another potential health care reform pitfall: the fate of Medicare Advantage, a program that pays insurance companies to enroll senior citizens. The White House says the program is wasteful and expensive, and hopes to trim its subsidy to bring per-patient costs in line with regular Medicare, saving $177 billion over 10 years; still, officials worry the move would spark accusations that the president wants to slash Medicare benefits.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/health/policy/19repubs.html

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803655.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125064325462441929.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803449.html

 http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus19-2009aug19,0,679453.column

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/opinion/19wed1.html?ref=todayspaper

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicare19-2009aug19,0,3854130.story

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Reluctant Shoppers Hold Back Recovery

The Wall Street Journaltops its online newsbox, and gives space on its front page, to reports that U.S. consumer spending remains weak and could undermine the country’s tentative economic recovery; retailers say they don’t expect their sales figures to improve until next year.

The Los Angeles Times has better news: House sales are on the rise, at least in California, with demand for entry-level homes in some cases sparking bidding wars.

 USA Today leads on predictions that farmers would plant 18 million acres of new trees by 2020, covering an area the size of West Virginia, if reforestation incentives included in pending climate legislation are passed into law.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125063872313441645.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-home-sales19-2009aug19,0,5419938.story

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2009-08-19-forest_N.htm

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‘We Don’t Have Any Alternative to Karzai’

Afghans will vote tomorrow to decide their next president, and in a splashy above-the-fold report the Postsays that current leader Hamid Karzai is the clear favorite; voters shaken by decades of violence say they’re in a mind to overlook the incumbent’s lackluster performance for the sake of stability. “We don’t have any alternative,” says one. “We’re afraid of what the other candidates might do.” The WSJ fronts a report noting that the election—the second since the fall of the Taliban—doesn’t guarantee stability; a recent wave of violence could keep people from the polls, handing a boost to the country’s insurgents.

In a bid to maintain order, the NYTreports, Karzai’s government will censor news organizations on Election Day, barring them from reporting on violence that might deter voters. A WSJeditorial pre-emptively trumpets the election’s success and calls for Afghanistan’s voters to stick their “ink-stained thumb in the eye” of the Taliban. In a more measured piece, Slate‘s Anne Applebaum counters that recent violence underscores the need not for “some kind of Jeffersonian idyll in the rugged heart of Central Asia,” but simply for a government recognized as legitimate by the majority of Afghans.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803156.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125066249115242443.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/asia/19afghan.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358421469615300.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2225614/

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Study on Vaccine for Cervical Cancer Finds Benefits Despite Some Risks

Government-backed researchers say that a new vaccine designed to protect against HPV and cervical cancer has a safety record in line with other vaccines, reports the NYT; still, it’s unclear whether any level of risk is acceptable, since cervical cancer can be prevented by screening. More troublingly, notes USAT, the researchers also reveal that three medical associations received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Merck, the vaccine’s developer, in order to promote its use—and subsequently promoted the vaccine to affluent women rather than targeting poor women who were at greater risk of developing cervical cancer. “This clearly shows how Merck was able to influence opinion leaders in the medical field to promote the vaccine without presenting any of the downsides,” a doctor who helped test the vaccine told the Post.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/health/research/19vaccine.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-18-gardasil-hpv-merck_N.htm

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Obama Sees ‘Positive Steps’ in the Middle East

President Obama met with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak at the White House yesterday, and afterward said that he remained upbeat about the prospects for progress in the Middle East. The NYT stresses the meeting’s cordiality; the WSJemphasizes Mubarak’s demands that Obama press Israel to accept a freeze on West Bank settlements. As the Postnotes, that may not be easy: Polls from Israel indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making political gains by defying U.S. pressure to halt the settlements’ spread, despite Israeli voters’ longstanding tradition of punishing politicians who distance themselves from Washington.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/middleeast/19prexy.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125060622453340141.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803569.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081802499.html

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F.B.I. Agents’ Role Is Transformed by Terror Fight

The FBI’s use of “threat squads”—dedicated teams of counterterrorism agents assigned to investigate tips and rumors—come under scrutiny in the NYT; the squads are a drain on the bureau’s resources, and their investigations seldom result in prosecutions. “A lot of the time we are chasing shadows,” admits one agent.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/us/19terror.html

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 Combative Writer Broke High-Stakes Scoops

And finally, all the papers note the passing of Robert Novak, the 78-year-old conservative pundit and self-branded Prince of Darkness, who died early yesterday morning from brain cancer. The Post, which ran Novak’s column for 45 years, reports his death below the fold and gushingly editorializes about his merits as an old-school reporter turned political insider; unsurprisingly, the WSJ‘s opinion-page editors are equally effusive in their praise. Of course, Novak’s immediate legacy is less his columns (which Slate‘s Jack Schafer reminds us won’t be anthologized anytime soon) than the lingering fallout from his 2003 outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame—a move that earned Novak enduring opprobrium from liberals. Still, perhaps the grizzled old ideologue wouldn’t have minded leaving a slightly sour aftertaste. “Novak loved his vampire-like public persona,” recalls one Republican strategist. “His one last dream was to play an assassin in a movie.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081801761.html

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2009/08/07/LI2009080702952.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081801792.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204683204574358552308710732.html

http://www.slate.com/id/2225617/

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081803520.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225677/

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Today’s papers – August 18, 2009

Iraq May Hold Vote On U.S. Withdrawal 

The Washington Post leads with news that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki endorsed a referendum that could force U.S. troops to withdraw a year ahead of schedule at a time when American commanders are proposing sending troops to the country’s north to deal with the rising violence. U.S. officials had been lobbying against the referendum that would force American troops to leave the country at the beginning of 2011, rather than the end, which is what the current agreement allows.

The Iraqi parliament still has to approve the referendum that was endorsed by Maliki yesterday. But if it does, then that means that Iraqi citizens could effectively make invalid a standing security agreement between the United States and Iraq and force American troops to leave earlier than scheduled. Yesterday, the top American general in Iraq proposed a plan to send troops to the north of the country, which has seen lots of violence lately.

The WP calls the move “a clear indication that the military sees a continuing need for U.S. forces even if Iraqis no longer want them here.” As the WSJ highlights, American commanders think much of the violence in the country’s north has to do with the continuing tensions between Arabs and Kurds, which has created a security vacuum that has made it easier for al-Qaida in Iraq to operate. Under the plans proposed yesterday, American troops would work alongside the Iraqi army and the Krudish regional government’s paramilitary force, known as the pesh merga. It would mark the first time that U.S. forces join forces with the militia.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081700949.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125054346470538075.html

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Mental Stress Training Is Planned for U.S. Soldiers

The New York Times leads with word that the Army is planning to require all of its soldiers to open up about their feelings as part of a training program that is supposed to improve performance and prevent mental health problems, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The NYT notes that the new Army program to prevent mental health problems has mostly been tested in middle schools and some experts caution that it’s hardly a guarantee that soldiers will become more resilient as a result of the training. The Army’s chief of staff candidly tells the paper that he’s not sure a military culture that often shuns talk of emotions and sees it as a sign of weakness is really ready for this type of training program, but the rising suicide rates, not to mention myriad other mental health problems, has convinced commanders to at least give it a shot.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18psych.html

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Obama’s healthcare trade-off

The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how, by making it clear that the overhaul efforts do not have to include a government-run insurance option, President Obama may have angered some supporters but also increased the likelihood that some type of legislation will pass. Conservative and centrist Democrats praised the president for his flexibility, and the White House seems convinced it will ultimately get the support of liberals, despite their insistence on a public option.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-healthcare18-2009aug18,0,973899.story

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Arrest in Epic Cyber Swindle

The Wall Street Journal leads its word-wide newsbox with prosecutors announcing that they have indicted a 28-year-old American and two of his Russian accomplices on charges that they carried out the the largest case of computer crime and identity theft ever prosecuted.

Authorities say 28-year-old Albert Gonzalez, described as a “rising star in the cyber underground” by the WSJ, and his two accomplices hacked into the computer systems of five major companies and stole more than 130 million debit and credit cards numbers from late 2006 to May 2008. If the Gonzalez name sounds familiar, it’s because he has already been indicted in other cases of identity theft, including the 2005 data breach of TJ Maxx that cost the company around $200 million. He had also been arrested in 2003 but avoided being charged by agreeing to become an informant for the Secret Service. That didn’t last long, however, as he went back to the life of crime and launched what he referred to as “operation get rich or die tryin” that would target Fortune 500 companies.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125053669921337753.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/technology/18card.html

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Unemployed workers flock to COBRA for health coverage

USA Today leads with an analysis that found the number of unemployed who opt to continue receiving their former employer’s health insurance has doubled since the federal government passed a subsidy to motivate laid-off workers to continue coverage, known as COBRA. Without the subsidy, the average COBRA family premium takes up 84 percent of the average unemployment benefits. Some employers are afraid that higher enrollment in COBRA will increase their health care costs.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2009-08-17-unemployed-insurance-cobra_N.htm

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Obama’s Healthcare trade-off

Analysts largely expect that the House will ultimately pass health care legislation that includes a public option, while the Senate’s version won’t include it. That means there could be some intense negotiating sessions, “probably late this fall,” says the LAT. The White House once again continued to insist that the president hasn’t changed his position regarding a public option because he never said it was the only way to create a better insurance market. Still, several key Democrats sensed the shift in tone and stated that the public option should not be abandoned. The differences of opinion could end up creating a big rift in the party. One lawmaker predicted that legislation without a public option could lose as many as 100 Democratic votes in the House.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-healthcare18-2009aug18,0,973899.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/policy/18dems.html

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Where’s Mr. Transformer?

The WP‘s Eugene Robinson notes that so many aspects of health care reform “have been taken off the table … that expectations are ratcheted down almost daily.” A failure to pass anything would surely be devastating to Obama, so perhaps the White House has decided to signal it is ready to give up on the public option because something is better than nothing. But it is way too early for such huge concessions. “Giving up on the public option might be expedient,” writes Robinson. “But we didn’t elect Obama to be an expedient president. We elected him to be a great one.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702178.html

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Alternate Plan as Health Option Muddies Debate

As it tries to take some of the focus away from the public option, the White House has made clear it is ready to look into nonprofit health cooperatives as an alternative. But the NYT notes in a front-page piece that no one really knows what the health cooperatives would look like and whether they could really be effective competition against private insurers. While Republicans and insurers generally find the co-op idea more palatable than the public option, they’re hardly ecstatic about it. Some insist that as long as the government is ready to offer a good chunk of start-up money, member-owned co-ops could be effective. But setting up co-ops certainly wouldn’t be easy. Private insurers already have a stranglehold on much of the market, and there’s no reason to think people would switch unless the co-op offers better services, which, of course, it wouldn’t be able to do until it has enough members to negotiate effectively with health care providers. And the WP points out that there’s no reason why existing insurers won’t try to convert themselves into co-ops, and there’s a risk that the co-ops could then attempt to become for-profit corporations if they get a large share of the market.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/policy/18plan.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081702965.html

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Lack of Medicare Appointee Puzzles Congress

The NYT notes that many are dumbfounded that even as Obama spends much of his waking hours talking about health care, he still hasn’t appointed anyone to lead the agency that runs Medicare and Medicaid. As the largest buyer of health care in the country, the leader of the agency would certainly play a role in the discussions about health care. But for now, the position remains vacant. “Trying to remake the health care system without a Medicare administrator is like fighting a war without a general,” writes the NYT.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/policy/18health.html

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More Immigration Detainee Deaths Disclosed

Administration officials announced yesterday that they discovered 10 previously unreported deaths in immigration detention. The 10 names were added to the official list, and there was an 11^th death that occurred late last week. The list that is known as “the death roster” now includes the names of 104 people who died in immigration detention since October 2003. When the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency gave the list to Congress in March, it had only 90 names.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125055691948838827.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/us/18immig.html

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Despite fumbles, Biden’s a player 

The LAT takes a front-page look at how Vice President Joe Biden appears to be improving his relationship with Obama and is winning some choice assignments despite his well-known tendency to speak his mind at inappropriate moments. Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama, goes as far as to say that his gaffes are “part of what makes the vice president so endearing” because apparently people can relate to misspeaking about Russia’s position in the world. He has been working hard to build a friendship with Obama, which one aide described as “courtship after the marriage.” Biden worried endlessly about what to get Obama for his 48^th birthday. He was set on getting the president a Nintendo Wii and was disappointed when he learned Obama’s daughters already have one. So he got him a golf range-finder instead. And, for whatever it’s worth, aides say he hasn’t discounted running for president in 2016.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-biden18-2009aug18,0,2588210.story

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Once Again, Mr. DeLay, You Have the Floor

The WP fronts, and everyone covers, ABC’s announcement that Tom DeLay, the former Republican House majority leader who resigned from Congress in 2006 after being indicted, will be a contestant in Dancing With the Stars. The producers have apparently wanted a politician on the show for a long time and approached DeLay thinking he would say no. But The Hammer surprised them by quickly agreeing to participate and has been preparing for the show all summer. “If I hadn’t been on the public stage, this would frighten me to death,” he told USAT. “But this doesn’t scare me. I’m going into this to have a great time.” Political types quickly tried to out-pun themselves. “It would be interesting to see if Mr. DeLay can do the Perp Walk,” said the research director of Texans for Public Justice.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/17/AR2009081703034.html

http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2009-08-17-delay-dancing_N.htm

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225550/

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Today’s papers – August 17, 2009

‘Public Option’ in Health Plan May Be Dropped

The New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with the Obama administration giving its strongest signal yet that it may be ready to drop the idea of a government-run insurance option to compete with private companies as part of health care reform.

On the Sunday talk show circuit, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the so-called public option is “not the essential element” of the overhaul efforts, while White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said President Obama “will be satisfied” if there is “choice and competition” in the private insurance market.

White House officials continued to insist that Obama isn’t abandoning a government-run health insurance plan. But the fact that two top administration officials hinted that it isn’t considered essential to the overall efforts should hardly be considered surprising considering that Obama himself said as much at a town-hall meeting in Colorado. The public option “is not the entirety of health care reform,” Obama said after defending the idea. “This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it.” This openness to other options, including insurance exchanges and cooperatives, is a big win for the insurance industry and could remove one of the biggest objections to health care overhaul since many had seized on it to claim that government wants to take over health care. “The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for the public option,” said Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad, one of the key health care negotiators who has been a champion of the co-op idea.

Although this willingness to drop the public option could win the administration some Republican support, it also risks angering liberal Democrats. Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia said that a public option ”is the only proven way to guarantee that all consumers have affordable, meaningful and accountable options available in the health insurance marketplace.” Indeed, the WSJ states that while the competition that co-ops would bring to the market might help bring down prices, it’s unlikely that they “would bring prices down as significantly as the government could.” The LAT says that if Obama ends up dropping the public option it would mark “at least the second time he’s made major concessions to powerful stakeholders in the healthcare debate.” Earlier, the White House made a deal with the nation’s main drug lobby to cap the cost savings it expects from the industry at $80 billion in exchange for supporting the reform efforts.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/health/policy/17talkshows.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081602248.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125043830465934883.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-healthcare17-2009aug17,0,2687148.story

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Pakistan Taliban leader’s purported death opens window of opportunity

The Los Angeles Times leads with a look at how the purported death of Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud has opened up a “window of opportunity that neither Pakistan nor the United States can afford to neglect.” With the Taliban’s structure in disarray as commanders fight to take Mahsud’s place, there is a great temporary opportunity to track down and kill other top Taliban leaders. That would not only help weaken the Taliban, but also make al-Qaida more vulnerable.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-militants17-2009aug17,0,2753768.story

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Polls: 57% don’t see stimulus working

USA Today leads with a new poll that shows 57 percent of Americans think the $787 billion stimulus package hasn’t had any impact on the economy or has made it worse. The poll shows how the White House is fighting an uphill battle in trying to convince Americans that things would have been worse without the stimulus package.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-08-16-stimulus-poll_N.htm

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 Pakistan Taliban leader’s purported death opens window of opportunity

The Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida have built up a strong, mutually beneficial relationship over the years. Al-Qaida helped train Taliban militants, and, in exchange the Taliban gave al-Qaida a safe place to operate. Experts now contend that if more Taliban commanders are killed, it would leave al-Qaida exposed and vulnerable. Analysts insist these operations have to take place quickly since it’s only a matter of time before the Taliban regroup. But it’s unclear whether the Pakistani military is ready to adopt such an aggressive strategy.

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 Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-militants17-2009aug17,0,2753768.story

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Threats by Taliban May Sway Vote in Afghanistan

In a front-page dispatch from Afghanistan, the NYT notes that while President Hamid Karzai is largely expected to win re-election this week that could change if Taliban intimidation keeps many of his fellow Pashtuns from casting a ballot. Support from Pashtuns was crucial to Karzai’s victory five years ago, when the Taliban largely stayed away and allowed voting to continue. Making matters worse for Karzai, many villagers have to walk far if they decide to ignore threats and cast a ballot. Afghan officials said many places across Helmand Province are simply not safe enough to set up polling places.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/world/asia/17taliban.html

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Pentagon Worries Led to Command Change

The WP‘s Rajiv Chandrasekaran writes an extensive piece looking into the “humiliating” firing of Gen. David McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, earlier this year, and what it says about the Obama administration’s approach to the war, as well as the changing culture in the Pentagon. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tried to persuade McKiernan to resign, but he refused. A mere two weeks later, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told him to pack his bags, marking the first time that a wartime theater commander was fired since 1951. McKiernan had a distinguished 37-year career, but spent little time at the Pentagon and wasn’t really well-versed in the intricate Washington parlor games. At the same time, he never built good relationships with Afghan leaders. Officials say that his shortcomings became even more evident with the rise of Gen. David Petraeus, who was particularly adept not only at directing troops but also at talking to lawmakers and Pentagon leaders. Suddenly, it wasn’t enough to just be a good military leader, a commander also “had to be adroit at international politics,” and know how to deal with the media, an official explained. For his part, McKiernan contends he never got the support he needed from Washington.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081602304.html

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Santa Barbara County wildfire blamed on marijuana growers

The LAT fronts news that the La Brea fire that has burned more than 87,000 acres in Santa Barbara County was apparently “the first major wildfire in the state caused by drug traffickers.” Authorities say the fire was sparked by flames from a cooking fire in an illegal marijuana farm, one of many that are increasingly cropping up in California’s vast forests. Officials believe the farm was operated by a Mexican drug organization.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fires17-2009aug17,0,3772231.story

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It’s Time to Legalize Drugs

In the WP‘s op-ed page, two former Baltimore City police officers urge the federal government to step away from the drug war to allow cities and states to set their own drug policies. Right now, “prohibition on drugs leads to unregulated, and often violent, public drug dealing,” which claims the lives of too many cops. Street-corner drug dealers can single-handedly turn a peaceful neighborhood into a violent one, but their threat could be eliminated if drug manufacturing and distribution were regulated. “Working people could sit on stoops, misguided youths wouldn’t look up to criminals as role models, our overflowing prisons could hold real criminals, and—most important to us—more police officers wouldn’t have to die.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/16/AR2009081601758.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225479/

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Today’s papers – August 16, 2009

GOP seeks its revival in the revolt against Obama’s healthcare plan

The Los Angeles Times leads with a report on the burgeoning Republican resistance to healthcare reform – a campaign that’s energized the party’s base, but about which many party leaders remain deeply ambivalent.

The so-called “August revolt”, powered by activists’ antics at Democratic town-hall meetings, has helped envigorate conservative groups; still, some GOP lawmakers are wary of associating themselves with the campaigners’ increasingly cartoonish attacks. “The hostility went straight through to hysteria,” said South Carolina conservative Rep. Bob Ingliss after being booed down at one recent town-hall. “You cannot build a movement on something that is not credible.”

Opposition to healthcare reform makes the front page on all three papers today. The activists like to cast their protests as spontaneous displays of popular outrage; still, the Post gets decent mileage from a report eying the conservative groups orchestrating the protests, which in some cases are led by established conservative-movement veterans and bankrolled by industry groups and conservative billionaires.

The NYT eyes the battle for the airwaves: some $57 million has been spent on healthcare-related TV ads in the past six months, most of it in last six weeks. “We’re looking at one of the biggest public policy ad wars ever,” says one media analyst. So far, the war’s being won by supporters of reform, who have outspent opponents by a ratio of about five to one.

Meanwhile, President Obama held his third and final healthcare town-hall yesterday, telling a friendly Colorado audience that while there was “no perfect, painless silver bullet,” many of his plan’s detractors were being disingenuous. The NYT picks up on Obama’s push-back against unsubstantiated suggestions that he would implement “death panels” to deny care to the elderly: “I just lost my grandmother last year,” he said. “So the notion that somehow I ran for public office, or members of Congress are in this so they can go around pulling the plug on grandma? I mean, when you start making arguments like that, that’s simply dishonest.” Still, the Post notes that the President appears to be resisting the temptation to attack his opponents, and is instead seeking to recalibrate his own message. He continues that effort on the NYT‘s op-ed page with a column calling for a more serious debate. “For all the scare tactics out there, what’s truly scary — truly risky — is the prospect of doing nothing,” he writes.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-health-gop16-2009aug16,0,5794904.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502696.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/health/policy/16ads.html

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502264.html

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/health/policy/16address.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081501289.html

 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16obama.html

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G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier as War Evolves

The New York Times leads with a report on the rising number of female troops gaining battle experience; while women remain barred from joining combat branches of the US military, they’ve repeatedly been sent to the front line in Iraq.

Above the fold, the NYT splashes a photo of a female US soldier in full battle gear charging into combat – an increasingly common sight in Iraq and Afghanistan, where troop shortages and shifting strategic needs are allowing more and more women to sidestep rules intended to keep them out of the line of fire. The trend has boosted women’s status in the armed forces, and has helped catapult female officers up the ranks: “Iraq has advanced the cause of full integration for women in the Army by leaps and bounds,” says one former colonel. But it’s also led to calls for women to be granted formal parity with their male peers – and for gays and lesbians to be given the same opportunities for military service. “They made it work with women,” said one gay-rights campaigner. “Certainly integrating open service of gay and lesbians is within their capability.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/us/16women.html

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McDonnell Ahead In Governor’s Race

The Washington Post leads local, with a new poll giving Republican Robert McDonnell a hefty early lead in the Virginia gubernatorial race: the GOP candidate is up by seven points overall, and up by 15 points among likely voters. Perhaps most troublingly for Dems, McDonnell is polling about even with his rival in vote-rich – and traditionally more liberal – northern Virginia, where he’s played down his conservative credentials and focused instead on issues like land conservation.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502820.html

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Webb Visit May Offer Opening With Burma

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb traveled to Burma’s remote administrative capital yesterday for talks with General Than Shwe, chief of the country’s ruling military junta, and was rewarded with the release of an American detainee and permission for a rare meeting with democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi. Webb, who the Post notes is a long-time advocate of engagement with Burma, drew criticism from dissident groups for the trip; still, the NYT reports, the move comes as Obama officials are reassessing their hard line towards Burma’s military leaders, and could paves the way for further US engagement.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081500612.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-myanmar16-2009aug16,0,7142428.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/asia/16myanmar.html

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Kabul bombing seen as warning to Afghan voters

A huge car bomb rocked one of Kabul’s most secure streets yesterday, killing seven people and injuring more than 90 outside the NATO headquarters, barely a block from the US embassy and the presidential palace. The NYT notes that the blast presumably indicates the Taliban’s intent to disrupt this week’s presidential election through violence; if the group manages to suppress turnout in its own southern strongholds, the election’s legitimacy could be thrown into question. “It is the Taliban who are trying to deny Afghans their political rights,” a senior US official told the Post. “That’s a lesson that ought to come home to all of us.”

Meanwhile, reports the NYT, the Obama administration is to create a new counter-propaganda unit within the State Department to challenge the Taliban’s dominance of local radio stations in Afghanistan and Pakistan; up to $150 million a year will be spent training journalists, establishing local radio stations and expanding cell-phone coverage across the region. “Concurrent with the insurgency is an information war,” said project chief Richard Holbrooke. “We can’t succeed, however you define success, if we cede the airways.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-blast16-2009aug16,0,598013.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/asia/16afghan.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081500572.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/asia/16policy.html

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Moussavi Forms ‘Grass-Roots’ Movement in Iran

Iranian opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi yesterday announced the formation of a new grassroots political movement, dubbed the Green Way of Hope. The NYT says the move marks his continuing defiance in the face of fresh government crackdowns; still, notes the LAT, Moussavi’s announcement failed to set out a specific political agenda or to give a clear strategy for rekindling the country’s opposition movement. The Post reports that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, appointed a hardline cleric as Iran’s new judiciary chief; his first task will be to oversee the mass trial of more than 100 of Moussavi’s supporters, who are accused of conspiring to overthrow Iran’s Islamic government.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/middleeast/16iran.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-mousavi16-2009aug16,0,5218913.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/15/AR2009081502779.html

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2 Killings Stoke Kashmiri Rage at Indian Force

And finally, the NYT fronts a look at continuing tensions in Kashmir, where 500,000 Indian security forces remain in place despite the fact that separatist violence has ebbed to its lowest point in two decades. Local activists say that rape and extrajudicial killings by the Indian police and military are endemic, fueled by rules that shield troops deployed to the region from prosecution. “Maybe at some point in time when the militants were in the thousands it made sense to have so many soldiers here,” said one opposition leader. “But at this point they are not helping in any way. Their mere presence has become a source of friction.”

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Full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/asia/16kashmir.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225475/

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Today’s papers – August 15, 2009

Obama Pushes Insurance Reforms

The Washington Post leads with President Obama’s push for insurance reform on his swing through Western states, where he found a much gentler reception than many elected representatives.

President Obama’s own town hall in Montana went better than some, with protesters confined across the street and mostly softball questions from the audience—an absence of hostility that the Post thinks is problematic, since Obama performs best under pressure.

The NYT homed in on his remark about insurance companies: With the exception of Aetna, a campaign donor, he said, they had been “funding in opposition” to health care reform, a charge that a representative from an insurance industry trade group denied.

Other members of Congress faced much gnarlier receptions, including Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, who was booed and hissed by crowds that topped 1,000 people in his tour around the state. The barrage stiffened his resolve, he told the Post, but also exacted some specific commitments around containing the cost of the legislation that he may not have otherwise made publicly. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, one of the “Gang of Six” Obama is targeting for his support, was sympathetic to both sides and gave little indication of how he would vote on key issues.

Also stumping through Iowa, the NYT explains part of the reason why town halls all over the country are so stacked with conservatives: Those who came out of the woodwork to support President Obama’s campaign are taking a break from politics. Despite its early success with online organizing, the post-Obama-campaign field operation can’t keep its members fighting Republicans in the ongoing policy battles.

Today the presidential road show takes its act to Grand Junction, Colo., which has one of the nation’s most efficient and effective health care systems in the country, the LAT reports.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081402052_pf.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403484_pf.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/health/policy/15ground.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-grand-junction14-2009aug14,0,3734546,print.story

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Illegal Immigration Enters the Health-Care Debate

The Journal has a look at the next potential headache for legislators, in the form of agitating in California against illegal immigrants receiving care.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-grand-junction14-2009aug14,0,3734546,print.story

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Consumer Prices Hold Steady, Easing Inflation Fears

The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times lead with new economic numbers that show steady consumer prices and little to no inflation, which could be evidence of an inflection point as the nosedive levels off—even as consumer confidence languishes.

While industrial production nudged up a little, consumer spending isn’t showing much sign of recovery. The NYT‘s economic statistics report accompanies news that nine months after a devastating Christmas shopping season, that other big rush of the year—Back2School!—is looking anemic, at least for the name brands. Wal-Mart and other discount chains are doing a brisk business in bargain-basement deals, while Hollister and Abercrombie struggle to keep inventory moving. The Post takes a gloomier view of the stats, focusing on consumer confidence, which dropped a couple of points despite expectations that it would see a bump in August.

School supplies aren’t even on the list for the thousands more families who’ve become homeless since the economic downturn started, the Post reports, in a trend that’s changing the face of the indigent in America.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/business/economy/15econ.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125025245413531943.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-econ15-2009aug15,0,6793696.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/business/15school.html?hp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081400499.html

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Major Bank Fails in South

The Journal leads with the failure of Alabama’s Colonial Bank, the biggest collapse since Washington Mutual and the sixth largest in U.S. history.

The bank failures aren’t over: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reached a deal to sell off most of Colonial Bank’s branches and $25 billion in assets to BB&T, another Southern-based bank that has weathered the financial crisis relatively well. Colonial had made aggressive real estate loans, which didn’t put it in a good position when the string of failures hit last fall.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125026270774732295.html (subscriber content preview)

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Pay Czar Collects Firms’ Proposals

Executive compensation proposals were due Friday from the corporate titans that received bailouts from the federal government—now the administration’s “pay czar” has 60 days to make a determination that will bind all seven of them. The Journal notices that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s January promise of rules to curtail lobbyists’ say over the $700 billion bailout is still just a promise.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403461.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125029615019933491.html

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Toyota Leads in Cash for Clunkers

Oh, and the automobile industry’s free gift, Cash for Clunkers? The top beneficiary so far is Toyota—although the most popular car models, the Corolla and the Camry, are built domestically.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403429.html

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 Soft Drinks Get Softer: New Niche Aims to Quench Stress

And in another sign of the changing times, the Post takes a look at the burgeoning relaxation drink industry: a nonalcoholic reply to the Red Bull-fueled culture of excess that characterized America pre-September 2008. (TP is uncertain how “Purple Stuff” is better than, say, beer, but will reserve judgment.)

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403463.html

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Huge car bomb kills 7 near NATO headquarters in Kabul

With Afghan elections only six days away, the LAT picked up an explosion that hit the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Kabul Saturday morning, killing at least three and injuring at least 70 more. The Taliban has claimed responsibility.

The Post continues its profiles of contenders to replace President Hamid Karzai with the Western favorite, Ashraf Ghani. The Columbia-educated former finance minister communicates his detailed anti-corruption programs well in English but hasn’t gotten them across well to the electorate, which now puts him fourth in polls.

Meanwhile, the Post also follows U.S. troops into Helmand province, where citizens are unsure whether they should be on America’s side or the Taliban’s.

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Full article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-kabul-bomb15-2009aug15,0,1629327.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081402842.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403568_pf.html

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The Hillary Doctrine

In other foreign news: Hillary Clinton debriefs her Africa tour with the Journal.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052970203863204574348843585706178.html

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Death Toll Is Still Rising After Storm in Taiwan

The death toll from Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan is up to 500 people.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/world/asia/15taiwan.html

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Agencies at Odds Over New York Crash

The Journal has the goods on last Saturday’s crash of small aircraft over the Hudson River, or at least two federal agencies’ respective versions of what went on. The National Transportation Safety Board says that a controller in New Jersey was on a phone call with his girlfriend as he failed to notify the plane of traffic in the area and then attempted to switch frequencies. The Federal Aviation Administration denies that any action by controllers could have contributed to the crash. Either way, regulators are starting to think about tightening safety restrictions over the river, where two high-profile crashes in recent months have put the public on edge.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125027114764932611.html

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From Vick, Gratitude and Remorse

Michael Vick is certainly sounding contrite these days, as he seeks to gain the same forgiveness from fans that the Philadelphia Eagles offered in signing him after two years of imprisonment for running a dog-fighting ring. Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie calls himself an “extreme dog-lover” and made being “proactive” in diminishing the level of animal cruelty a condition of Vick’s second chance. The Post and LAT both front the story of his last months in prison, during which he was mentored by coach Tony Dungy, who got behind him when Vick expressed an interest in returning to the Christian faith. The Eagles’ curiosity became concrete when their backup quarterback was injured—Vick was also in the right place at the right time.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/sports/football/15vick.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-michael-vick15-2009aug15,0,2447823.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/14/AR2009081403322_pf.html

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Ted Kennedy, Star for Maple Leafs, Dies at 83

Back in the obit section, breath a sigh of relief when you realize that the Kennedy who died on Friday was not that Ted Kennedy. Although this one seems to have been a tremendous loss for the sport of hockey.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/sports/hockey/15kennedy.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225473/ 

Read Full Post »

Today’s papers – August 14, 2009

France, Germany Fend Off Recession

The Washington Post leads, and the Wall Street Journal goes high, with news that Europe’s two largest economies have surprisingly escaped from the recession, raising hopes that the worldwide downturn may be on its final legs. Germany and France both reported modest recoveries that put them ahead of other industrialized economies, including the United States and the United Kingdom.

While Europe as a whole continues to go through a sharp recession, there are signs that several of them could bounce back like France and Germany. Several countries in Asia have also shown marked improvement lately. Analysts are pointing to these recoveries as examples that the large increase in government stimulus spending has worked as intended. But others are quick to caution that just because France and Germany reported good numbers, it doesn’t mean they are out of the woods just yet. As for the United States, things might be getting a bit better, but there’s still a long way to go, exemplified by the news that retail sales unexpectedly fell last month.

The WSJ points out that this time around it seems the American consumer won’t be as crucial to a global economic rebound as in the past. Lagging behind could help the United States by boosting exports. At the same time, if the recovery is too quick elsewhere it could lead to a spike in the price of commodities, meaning that the United States and other countries could be hit with inflation before they get a chance to fully get out of the recession. Some analysts say we shouldn’t worry about the United States lagging behind for too long because “just as it was a synchronized recession, it will largely be a synchronized upturn,” as one put it.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081300504.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125014420293928457.html (subscriber content preview)

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New Screening Could Lead to More Potent Cancer Drugs

The New York Times leads with news that researchers may have opened a new strategy to treat cancer by identifying drugs that can kill cancer stem cells. Many believe that cancerous stem cells, which are very resistant to treatment and can constantly renew themselves, cause tumors to grow back after chemotherapy. Now this latest research has found there are certain drugs that can attack the cancer stem cells without harming ordinary cells.

The NYT notes that if the latest research on cancer stem cells can lead to new drugs it could mean that cancer would be fought through a cocktail of chemicals. That’s the way the AIDS virus is attacked now, which, just like cancer cells, “can change DNA to dodge an effective drug, but are thought to perish if confronted with many drugs at once,” explains the paper. Effective drugs could also mean that chemotherapy might not have to be given in such large doses, potentially making cancer treatment much less painful for the patient. But some aren’t even convinced of the theory that cancerous stem cells are behind the growth of tumors. “It’s the most amazing polarity that I’ve seen,” a Stanford researcher said of the debate. “It’s like two religions fighting.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/research/14cancer.html

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U.S. Seeds New Crops to Supplant Afghan Poppies

The WSJ leads its online world-wide newsbox with a look at how the Obama administration is changing the strategy to deal with the poppy fields in Afghanistan. Eradication programs, which have been hugely unpopular and haven’t really hurt the drug trade, will be pretty much abandoned, and the administration will instead focus on helping farmers make a living through other ways. It is spending $300 million—six times more than in 2008—in the effort that, among other things, will give micro-grants and sell heavily discounted seeds and livestock.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125021357982431177.html

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Town halls too heated for some

USA Today leads with a look at how some federal lawmakers are abandoning the town-hall-style meetings that have become an August tradition in order to avoid being in the middle of fights over health care. A number of Democrats have decided to hold telephone town halls and smaller meetings with community leaders. “I’m not going to give people a stage to perform,” Rep. Silvestre Reyes from Texas said.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-13-healthmeeting_N.htm

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U.S. probes Orange County’s jail system

The Los Angeles Times leads locally, with news that the Department of Justice has been investigating Orange County’s jail system since December. Officials are trying to determine whether there is a pattern of jail personnel violating inmates’ rights. The investigation could take more than a year.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oc-jails-investigation14-2009aug14,0,910769.story

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False ‘Death Panel’ Rumor Has Some Familiar Roots

The NYT takes a front-page look at how the rumors that Obama’s plan for health care overhaul include “death panels” that would decide who gets to live and who gets to die got started. It gathered the most steam since Sarah Palin mentioned it, and now has even been picked up by Sen. Charles Grassley from Iowa, who is part of the “gang of six” negotiating a bipartisan health care bill in the finance committee. But the seeds to the idea were planted months ago, and carried by many of the same people and media outlets that were instrumental to defeating reform under President Clinton.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/health/policy/14panel.html

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Republican Death Trip

The NYT‘s Paul Krugman writes that those who were skeptical of the post-partisan vision Barack Obama peddled on the campaign trail have now officially been proven right with the rise of the angry right wing during the current health care debate. And the truth is, there’s nothing Obama can do about it since the attacks on his presidency have nothing to do with what he is doing or wants to do. So far, the administration’s response “has had a deer-in-the-headlights quality,” writes Krugman. “It’s as if officials still can’t wrap their minds around the fact that things like this can happen to people who aren’t named Clinton, as if they keep expecting the nonsense to just go away.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/opinion/14krugman.html

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President Barack Obama could learn from Franklin D. Roosevelt

In a LAT‘s op-ed, Nancy Altman writes that the rhetoric Obama has to face from critics of health care reform is surprisingly similar to what Franklin D. Roosevelt faced when he was pushing for legislation to create Social Security. Of course, there was no talk of “death panels” but plenty about socialism. And opponents warned Social Security would “establish a bureaucracy in the field of insurance in competition with private business,” which sounds eerily familiar. But despite the fact that almost every Republican in Congress was against Social security, “Roosevelt prevented them from controlling the debate,” explains Altman. Obama could learn a thing or two from FDR, who anticipated opposition and neutralized it while framing the debate on his terms.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-altman14-2009aug14,0,6660527.story

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For Bruce Lisker, a ‘surreal’ return to society

The LAT goes high with news that Bruce Lisker was released from prison more than twenty-six years after being arrested. In 2005, the LAT published the results of a seven-month investigation that vividly illustrated the shortcomings in much of the evidence and arguments used to convict Lisker of killing his mother. Last week, a judge declared that he was convicted on “false evidence” and was poorly represented. The LAT‘s Matt Lait, one of the authors of the 2005 investigation, describes how “little things amused and confused” Lisker yesterday as he adjusted to life outside of prison. He was baffled by a motion sensor in a sink, and when it came time to pick what kind of sandwich he wanted, the number of choices were “overwhelming.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-lisker14-2009aug14,0,2323462.story

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Judges’ Dissents for Death Row Inmates Are Rising

The NYT notes that over the past decade appeals court judges in capital cases have increasingly been writing opinions that criticize Congress and the Supreme Court for making it practically impossible for death row prisoners to appeal their convictions. Some of the judges writing these passionate opinions have ruled in favor of the death penalty many times, but often feel frustrated they can do nothing to stop what they see as a miscarriage of justice. The most frequent target of their complaints is the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 that was passed by lawmakers who felt prisoners were abusing the appeals system. Although these kinds of dissents usually have no practical effect on a case, judges often write them with colleagues, lawmakers, and academics in mind.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/us/14dissent.html

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Curious Case of a Missing Ship

The WP takes a look at the mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea, a cargo ship registered in Malta and owned by Russians that disappeared two weeks ago with a crew of 15 Siberian sailors. The ship, carrying $1.7 million of timber, simply dropped off the map after clearing the English Channel, despite the fact that it’s equipped with lots of modern tracking equipment. Some suggest the ship could have been attacked by pirates, or maybe sunk, but the pieces don’t quite add up, which has left many speculating that perhaps there was contraband on board or the captain could be trying to steal the cargo.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081303792.html

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But How Was the Music?

As the 40^th anniversary of Woodstock approaches tomorrow, there have been plenty of retrospectives, and there are likely more to come. But the WSJ‘s Jim Fusilli writes that people often prefer to forget that in terms of music, the festival really wasn’t so great. Promoters couldn’t get some of the biggest names of the time and managers packed the schedule with unknown artists in exchange for their famous clients. The proliferation of drugs also meant that many of the musicians weren’t really at the top of their game. Some forgot lyrics and were too disoriented to play. Others simply weren’t very good, including Jimi Hendrix. The Who had no idea their drinks had been spiked with LSD and Roger Daltrey later said it was “the worst performance we ever did.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574344372691481000.html

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For sale: eternity with Marilyn Monroe

The LAT reports that Elsie Poncher has put the crypt currently occupied by her husband on EBay with a starting price of $500,000. Why would anyone pay that much? It’s right above Marilyn Monroe’s final resting place. Apparently, Richard Poncher bought the crypt from Joe DiMaggio during his divorce from Monroe. But it won’t be the first time Richard’s “long sleep has been disturbed,” as the LAT puts it. When he was dying, Richard had a request for Elsie: “He said, ‘If I croak, if you don’t put me upside down over Marilyn, I’ll haunt you the rest of my life.’ ” After the funeral, Elsie told the funeral director about her husband’s dying wish. “I was standing right there, and he turned him over.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-marilyn14-2009aug14,0,2135061.story

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Today’s Doonesbury

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Full article: http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20090813

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225360/

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Today’s papers – August 13, 2009

Poll: Health care views take sympathetic tilt

USA Today leads with a new poll that found the loud protests at the town-hall-style meetings have helped increase opposition to overhauling the health care system. A total of 34 percent of Americans say the protests have made them more sympathetic to opponents of reform, while 21 percent say they are less sympathetic.

The new USAT/Gallup poll found that the anti-reform protesters at the town-hall meetings have been particularly effective with independents, as 35 percent say they are more sympathetic to their cause, versus 16 percent who say they are less sympathetic. Even though it’s clear that many are unsure what to think, the issue seems to have captured the attention of the public, as 70 percent say they are following the news closely. Administration officials pushed back against the poll, saying that those who say they’re more sympathetic to protesters probably shared some of their views from the beginning.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-12-poll-12_N.htm

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Fed Views Recession as Near an End

The New York Times and Washington Post lead with the Federal Reserve sending the strongest message yet that the economy is improving. Almost two years after launching what would eventually become an unprecedented intervention in the U.S. economy, the central bank announced it would end its purchases of $300 billion in U.S. government debt, which was designed to decrease long-term interest rates, by the end of October. The Fed said economic activity is “leveling out” but also cautioned it is still “likely to remain weak for a time.”

Cautioning that unemployment will remain high for some time, the Fed also made it clear that it will be keeping its benchmark short-term interest rate at nearly zero. Despite warnings that troubles are far from over, the NYT notes that it was still the central bank’s “most upbeat assessment in more than a year.” The WP says the Fed is entering “a new phase” in its response to the recession that amounts to a risky balancing act as it must make sure to remove programs designed to prop up the economy “soon enough to prevent inflation but not so soon that the fragile recovery is quashed.” But Fed officials are still more concerned about unemployment than inflation, and some of the central bank’s biggest emergency credit programs will continue, including the plan to buy $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/business/economy/13fed.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081200303.html

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Taliban, Foes Clash In Pakistan

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with reports that clashes between rival militant factions in Pakistan’s tribal region left dozens dead. Taliban militants loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, who was reportedly killed last week in a U.S. airstrike, attacked followers of a pro-government tribal warlord, and a five-hour firefight ensued.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125008494101725915.html

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Schwarzenegger vows to boost patient protections

The Los Angeles Times leads locally with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowing to reform the system that disciplines health professionals accused of misconduct. Last month, the paper, along with the nonprofit news organization ProPublica, revealed that it takes more than three years to discipline registered nurses accused of wrongdoing.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-me-consumer-affairs13-2009aug13,0,6933169.story

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Why ‘clunkers’ program won’t take some of the most polluting cars

The LAT devotes its top nonlocal spot to looking at how lobbyists for antique-car dealers and suppliers were successful in excluding cars built before 1984 from the Cash for Clunkers program. The lobbyists didn’t want to see old cars destroyed, but that means many who have some of the most polluting vehicles in the country can’t take advantage of the program, even though many hardly consider their old, beaten-down vehicles to be valuable antiques.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-clunkers13-2009aug13,0,6098269.story

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Obama Injects Himself Into Health Talks, Despite Risks

In a front-page piece, the NYT takes a look at how Obama’s rhetoric on health care hasn’t always matched up with reality. Although the president has tried to portray himself as someone who offers broad guidelines but is leaving the nitty-gritty legislative negotiations to lawmakers, the truth is that he and a few advisers have been key players in negotiations. And they have even negotiated deals that contradict what the president himself has said in public. Most notably, it seems the White House reached a deal with hospitals to put a limit on the industry’s costs and nix the idea of a government-run health plan that pays Medicare rates in exchange for early support. It also seems the White House has been playing favorites, pushing lobbyists to negotiate with the Senate finance committee and even participating in those negotiations. The president talks to the chairman of the committee, Sen. Max Baucus, several times a week, even as he insists to House leaders that the Senate committee won’t determine what the final bill will look like.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/health/policy/13health.html

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Cheney Uncloaks His Frustration With Bush

The WP‘s Barton Gellman takes a look at how former Vice President Dick Cheney isn’t keeping it a secret that he isn’t happy with how his former boss ended his eight years in the White House. Gellman, author of a must-read book on Cheney, gets some information from people who attended informal conversations the former vice president is holding to discuss the memoir he is in the process of writing, longhand on legal pads. “In the second term, he felt Bush was moving away from him,” said a participant. “The implication was that Bush had gone soft on him.” Although the two men still occasionally talk, it’s clear that Cheney is disappointed with the man he once saw “as a man of resolve” who ultimately “turned out to be more like an ordinary politician,” writes Gellman.

Cheney has said privately that his memoir will recount in detail the heated arguments he had with the president while he was pushing for the pardon of his former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, which Time wrote about last month. Some are surprised that Cheney is willing, and seemingly eager, to air the administration’s dirty laundry, particularly since he has always been highly critical of insiders who went on to write tell-all accounts after leaving the White House.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/12/AR2009081203306.html

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1912297,00.html

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As Afghan Vote Nears, Taliban Intimidation Rises

The NYT takes a look at how the Taliban have been intensifying their threat-and-intimidation campaign in Afghanistan ahead of next week’s presidential election. Whether it’s through leaflets, radio announcements, or in person, the message is clear: Those who vote will face harsh consequences. One Taliban commander said militants would cut off any finger that is stained with the indelible ink that marks that someone voted. It seems clear Taliban militants want to demonstrate their influence at a time when it’s particularly important for the Afghan government, not to mention the Obama administration, to demonstrate that the country is making progress.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/asia/13kandahar.html

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A Window Into C.I.A.’s Embrace of Secret Jails

In the second article examining the history of the Bush-era interrogation programs, the NYT takes a look at how the rise of Dusty Foggo—the CIA official who went on to become the agency’s executive director before pleading guilty last year to a fraud charge and is now serving a three-year sentence—was intrinsically linked to the construction of secret detention sites. The man who was once the CIA’s third-highest official talked to the NYT about how he oversaw construction of three secret detention centers, which have become known as the “black sites.” The three were designed to look identical so prisoners, who were kept in isolated cells, wouldn’t know where they were. Eventually, the CIA would have a network of at least eight detention centers, including one maximum-security site in Guantanamo that was named Strawberry Fields, apparently after the Beatles song because CIA officials “joked that the detainees would be held there, as the lyric put it, ‘forever’.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/13foggo.html

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Food Firms Warn of Sugar Shortage

The Wall Street Journal reports that some of the biggest U.S. food companies are telling the Obama administration that they could “virtually run out of sugar” if import restrictions aren’t eased amid “soaring prices” for the commodity. Chocolate bars, cereal, cookies, and candy are all at risk, according to a letter to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack from the big brands, including Kraft Foods, Hershey, and General Mills. Import quotas limit the amount of tariff-free sugar that the companies can import each year from anywhere except from Mexico. The companies have said that without eased restrictions, they’ll be forced to lay off workers or jack up prices for consumers.  Officials at the food companies declined to comment on how much prices might jump if the administration ignores their request.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125011957488227095.html (subscriber content preview)

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The Mars menu: This is not Buzz Aldrin’s astronaut food

The LAT takes an intersting look at how scientists are working furiously in NASA’s space kitchen to figure out what food astronauts will eat when they blast off for Mars in approximately 20 years. NASA’s food technology team needs to try to figure out how “to pack more than 6,570 breakfasts, lunches, snack, and dinners all at once—enough food to feed six people every day for more than three years.” Although space food has gotten a tad bit more sophisticated since the first trips into space, the trick now is to figure out how to give it a much longer shelf life while also creating new packaging materials that can properly preserve the food without being too heavy.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-mars-food13-2009aug13,0,5125750.story

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Passengers stranded on a plane really are stuck

Say you find yourself in a situation like the passengers of last week’s Continental flight, who were stuck overnight inside a 50-seat jet on the tarmac and not allowed to leave. What can you do? Pretty much nothing, explains USAT. If you decide to revolt you could get in trouble. And it’s extremely rare for a lawsuit to succeed.”You are their property, and you have lost your rights inside the plane,” said a lawyer who was one of the passengers in the Continental flight.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-08-12-stranded-fliers-on-the-tarmac_N.htm

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It’s Hip to Be Round

The NYT‘s Guy Trebay notices that, this summer the “unvarying male uniform in the precincts of Brooklyn cool” has added an unexpected element: “a burgeoning potbelly one might term the Ralph Kramden.” Too big to simply be blamed on the T-shirt’s cut but too small to be called a beer gut, the “Ralph Kramden” is seemingly everywhere the perpetually hip hang out. Why? No one knows, really. Some think it’s a pushback from the years of obsession with perfectly sculpted abs. Others say Obama might be to blame as contrarian hipsters are eager to refuse to follow the lead from a man who hits the gym every morning. “If we had a slob in the White House,” said the editor of Details, “all the hipsters would turn into some walking Chippendales calendar.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/fashion/13POTBELLY.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2225243/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/13/sugar-shortage

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Today’s papers – August 12, 2009

Obama Takes on Health Care Critics

The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with President Obama’s personal involvement in a town hall meeting on health care, the first of three this week in which he intends to directly confront misinformation about the overhaul efforts. Obama said that just like every other time “we come close to passing health insurance reform,” special interest groups “use their political allies to scare and mislead the American people.”

In the town hall meeting, Obama talked about the claim that lawmakers “voted for ‘death panels’ that will basically pull the plug on Grandma” and highlighted that he’s “not in favor of them,” urging critics to “disagree over things that are real, not these wild misrepresentations.” It was one statement, but, as USAT notes, the very idea that Obama felt the need to deny he has a grand plan to kill grandmothers illustrates just how much the loudest critics of health care reform have been able to dominate the debate.

Outside the meeting, those critics were out in full force, and “the gathering verged on a street brawl,” reports the WSJ. Demonstrators began arriving early in the morning and gathered on either side of the street for a good old-fashioned shouting match. Opponents carried signs, including ones that called Obama a socialist; “Obamahidinejad,” in reference to the Iranian president; and even one that superimposed his face on a Nazi storm trooper. “Adolf Hitler was for exterminating the weak, not just the Jews and stuff, and socialism—that’s what’s going to happen,” explained the woman who was carrying that particular sign, which was apparently made by her chronically ill mother who gets expensive treatments courtesy of Medicare.

According to senior aides, the president has been looking forward to the opportunity to defend his efforts at health care reform. But the mood inside the town hall meeting was all quite respectful, even after Obama encouraged skeptics to speak up. People may be more reluctant to harshly criticize the president to his face, but it was a whole different story for some members of Congress. In Missouri, Sen. Claire McCaskill was frequently shouted down during a town hall meeting and security officials had to remove two people. Another scheduled meeting had to be canceled due to security concerns. In Pennsylvania, a mere 15 minutes after Sen. Arlen Specter’s town hall meeting got underway someone was already accusing him of “trampling” on the Constitution. “One day God is going to stand before you, and he’s going to judge you!” the man continued to loud applause.

The NYT devotes a front-page piece to Specter’s town hall and says that it looked like the vast majority of those who attended the meeting were against the efforts to overhaul health care. But to them, it’s more than that. They see the health care efforts as another example of a federal government obsessed with interfering in the private sector. Indeed, the WP‘s Dan Balz notes the issue, and particularly the public insurance option, has become “an easy target for opponents who say his administration is behind the most significant enlargement of the federal government since the Great Society programs.” The White House insists everything Obama did to prop up the economy was necessary and not the result of some big-government ideology, but it’s easy for Republicans to argue otherwise. Balz goes on to say that Obama might have no choice but to give up on the public option early in the process in order to reshape the debate.

Some senior White House aides are cautioning against overreacting to the more outlandish and loud protesters at the town hall meetings, noting they could end up working in Obama’s favor. “I think the public looks at screaming, swastikas, attacks. … It’s not a persuasive argument,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said. “If anything, it is the opposite.”

“I think it is very hard because [Democrats] don’t have the message machine the Republicans do,” a linguistics professor tells the LAT. “The Democrats still believe in Enlightenment reason: If you just tell people the truth, they will come to the right conclusion.”

The full statement reads:

“I think it is very hard because [Democrats] don’t have the message machine the Republicans do,” said George Lakoff, a UC Berkeley linguistics professor who has advised some Democrats on how to sharpen their message. “The Democrats still believe in Enlightenment reason: If you just tell people the truth, they will come to the right conclusion.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002447.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124999368750322533.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-11-healthcare_N.htm

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-health-obama12-2009aug12,0,6823848.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/health/policy/12townhall.html

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A President as Micromanager: How Much Detail Is Enough?

In a front-page piece, the WSJ notes that, particularly when it comes to economics, Obama is a big fan of details. Every weekday morning, Obama gets an update on the economy from his advisers, and unlike many presidents who choose to focus on the big picture, he often “dives into the minutiae.” This attention to detail “has helped give a paradoxical cast to his first months,” declares the paper. He has talked about overhauling certain sectors of the economy to such an extent that even Democrats have raised objections. But after expressing grand ambitions, he “has shown last-minute caution on many fronts,” which result in much more modest initiatives.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125003045380123953.htm

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Karl Rove took active role in U.S. attorney’s firing, documents show

The Los Angeles Times leads, and the New York Times off-leads, new internal documents released yesterday that show how Karl Rove and other senior officials in the Bush administration played a greater role in the firing of several U.S. attorneys than was previously known. The e-mails and congressional testimony made public by the House judiciary committee show how the dismissals were the result of a two-year effort that appears to have targeted certain prosecutors for political reasons, and was part of a larger pattern of trying to influence Justice Department officials on several issues.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rove12-2009aug12,0,6512321.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/us/politics/12firings.html

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Shiites in Iraq Show Restraint as Sunnis Keep Attacking

Shiites prayed at a service in the Sadr City district of Baghdad in June. The area has been a frequent target of Sunni extremists.

The NYT leads with a look at how Iraqi Shiites have so far resisted retaliating against the recent wave of violence in which they are frequently the victims. This is a marked contrast to a few years ago, when Shiites and Sunnis seemed locked in an endless stream of retaliatory attacks. Now, even as hundreds are killed and some of the Shiites’ holiest sites are attacked, they are listening to political and religious leaders who are urging followers to remain peaceful in the face of violence.

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/world/middleeast/12shiite.html

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Feds try to detect ‘lone offenders’

USA Today leads with word that shortly after Obama’s inauguration, federal authorities stepped up efforts to find lone attackers who could be considering carrying out ideologically based assaults, such as the recent murder of the abortion doctor in Kansas. Known as the “Lone Wolf Initiative,” FBI agents are working to gather more information about possible suspects to disrupt attacks before they materialize.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-11-lone-offenders_N.htm

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2 U.S. Architects of Harsh Tactics in 9/11’s Wake

The NYT takes a front-page look at how two retired military psychologists took the lead in devising the CIA’s post-Sept. 11 interrogation program even though they never carried out a real interrogation, had no particular expertise on the issue, and weren’t even scholars of al-Qaida. The story of the two contractors has been told before, but the paper does a good job of recounting how Jim Mitchell and Bruce Jessen quickly built up a lucrative contracting business that has come crashing down ever since the CIA terminated its contracts last spring. Shortly after Sept. 11, the two men used a seized al-Qaida manual on resisting interrogations to create the American interrogation program. When Abu Zubaydah was captured, the CIA was ready to implement the brutal techniques, despite the objections of many officials present. And despite the fact that the torture techniques weren’t really effective in eliciting more information, the CIA kept using them.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/us/12psychs.html

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Burmese Activist Receives New Term of House Arrest

The police were set for trouble Tuesday near the prison in Yangon, Myanmar, where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced.

The papers go inside with news that a Burmese court sentenced pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional 18 months under house arrest for violating the terms of her detention when she hosted an uninvited American in her home. The move ensures that the country’s most popular opposition figure will be out of sight as the government prepares for controversial elections next year. Separately, the American, John Yettaw, who swam across a lake to get to Suu Kyi’s home, was sentenced to seven years in prison, including four years of hard labor. The LAT highlights that while Western countries harshly criticized the court’s decision to extend Suu Kyi’s house arrest, Burma’s neighbors, China and India, remained silent.

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/world/asia/12myanmar.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-suu-kyi12-2009aug12,0,5260250.story

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The papers publish two must-read pieces for John Hughes fans.

The Neverland Club

In the NYT, Molly Ringwald writes about a conversation she had with Anthony Michael Hall shortly after hearing that Hughes had died, where they reminisced about the man who had made them famous. Neither of them had talked to Hughes in more than 20 years. Apparently Hughes “was able to hold a grudge longer than anyone” and never forgave the fact that the actors he once took to concerts and for whom he had made “endless mixed tapes” refused to appear in some of his later work.

The full article reads:

The Neverland Club

IN life, there is always that special person who shapes who you are, who helps to determine the person you become. Very often it’s a teacher, a mentor of some kind. For me, that person was John Hughes. Along with the rest of the world, I was stunned when I learned that he had died of a heart attack last week at 59.

Not long after hearing the horrible news, I found myself talking on the phone to Anthony Michael Hall, my friend and co-star in several of the movies John directed. His experiences mirror mine to a large extent. Both of us were catapulted from obscurity and planted in the American consciousness through the films that we did with John. Michael, as he prefers to be called, will be forever associated with “geekdom” just as I will always be the girl whose 16th birthday is forgotten. But for both of us, what really matters is less the mark that these films left on the world than the experience of making them with John, the mark it made on us.

We stayed on the phone for a while reminiscing about our old friend and mentor. Since the days of John’s death, we have both been inundated with missives from friends and acquaintances, sending us their condolences the way you would for a close family member. Yet the strange thing is, neither of us had talked to John in more than 20 years.

Most everyone knows that John retreated from Hollywood and became a sort of J.D. Salinger for Generation X. But really, sometime before then, he had retreated from us and from the kinds of movies that he had made with us. I still believe that the Hughes films of which both Michael and I were a part (specifically “Sixteen Candles” and “The Breakfast Club”) were the most deeply personal expressions of John’s. In retrospect, I feel that we were sort of avatars for him, acting out the different parts of his life — improving upon it, perhaps. In those movies, he always got the last word. He always got the girl.

None of the films that he made subsequently had the same kind of personal feeling to me. They were funny, yes, wildly successful, to be sure, but I recognized very little of the John I knew in them, of his youthful, urgent, unmistakable vulnerability. It was like his heart had closed, or at least was no longer open for public view. A darker spin can be gleaned from the words John put into the mouth of Allison in “The Breakfast Club”: “When you grow up … your heart dies.”

I’m speaking metaphorically, of course. Though it does seem sadly poignant that physically, at least, John’s heart really did die. It also seems undeniably meaningful: His was a heavy heart, deeply sensitive, prone to injury — easily broken.

Most people who knew John knew that he was able to hold a grudge longer than anyone — his grudges were almost supernatural things, enduring for years, even decades. Michael suspects that he was never forgiven for turning down parts in “Pretty in Pink” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” I turned down later films as well. Not because I didn’t want to work with John anymore — I loved working with him, more than anyone before or since.

John saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself. He had complete confidence in me as an actor, which was an extraordinary and heady sensation for anyone, let alone a 16-year-old girl. I did some of my best work with him. How could I not? He continually told me that I was the best, and because of my undying respect for him and his judgment, how could I have not believed him?

Eventually, though, I felt that I needed to work with other people as well. I wanted to grow up, something I felt (rightly or wrongly) I couldn’t do while working with John. Sometimes I wonder if that was what he found so unforgivable. We were like the Darling children when they made the decision to leave Neverland. And John was Peter Pan, warning us that if we left we could never come back. And, true to his word, not only were we unable to return, but he went one step further. He did away with Neverland itself.

“I just remember how fun it all was,” Michael said on the phone.

It was: the concerts he took us to (the blues great Junior Wells at Kingston Mines in Chicago), the endless mixed tapes he made for us and, most of all, the work itself. It doesn’t even seem like you should be able to call it “work” because we enjoyed it so much.

There’s a scene in “Sixteen Candles” where my character, Samantha, and Michael’s character, “the geek,” have a heart-to-heart talk. The scene lasts all of six minutes, but it took us days to film because we were all laughing too hard. John, too. He sat under the camera — his permanent place before directors retreated to the video monitor — while the assistant directors stood around rolling their eyes waiting for him to stop laughing and reprimand “the kids.” But how could he? He was one of us.

About 15 years ago, I wrote John from Paris, where I was living, to tell him how important he was to me. I had been on a François Truffaut kick and had just watched the series of “Antoine Doinel” films that he had made with the actor Jean-Pierre Léaud. There was something in the connection of actor and director that I recognized in us, particularly in the first film of the series, “400 Blows.”

After Truffaut died, I heard that Jean-Pierre Léaud had suffered a kind of breakdown, going so far as to drop flower pots on people from high-storied buildings. This is most likely a rumor, French film lore, but I think I now understand how painful it is to lose someone like that. John was my Truffaut. A week after I sent my letter, I received a bouquet of flowers as big as my apartment from John, thanking me for writing. I was so relieved to know that I had gotten through to him, and I feel grateful now for that sense of closure.

Toward the end of my phone call with Michael, we spent a little time catching up on mutual friends and family. I told him that my 5-year-old daughter, Mathilda, had just secured the part that she wanted in her theater camp — Tiger Lily, the Indian princess in “Peter Pan.” Michael made me promise to invite him to Mathilda’s debut as a fellow thespian. So in a few weeks we’ll drive to the theater and spend a couple of hours with Tiger Lily, Peter, Wendy and the Lost Boys.

Turns out, you can return to Neverland. At least for a little while.

Molly Ringwald is an actress.

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/opinion/12ringwald.html

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A Mirror Up To the Ferris Of Them All

In the WP‘s Style section, Edward McNally, the rumored inspiration behind Ferris Bueller—he attended the same high school as Hughes, where he was “relentlessly pursued by a remarkably humorless” dean and had a best friend named Buehler—writes about how the “Ferris-ian high jinks were the everyday stuff of our boyhood lives.” The man who later worked in the White House had 27 absences in his last semester of high school and once took his dad’s purple Cadillac El Dorado for a Chicago adventure. And, yes, he apparently did try to erase the extra mileage by putting the car in reverse, but rather than fly backward, the move took off 10,000 miles from the odometer. “[O]ne key lesson from Ferris is his repeated message to his despondent buddy Cameron,” writes McNally. “Your current situation doesn’t have to be your fate. There’s always another way.”

The full article reads:

A Mirror Up To the Ferris Of Them All

Movie director John Hughes and I grew up on the same street in our home town of Northbrook, Ill. We both graduated from Glenbrook North, the high school where he filmed scenes from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “The Breakfast Club,” where his mom worked and two sets of our sisters were classmates. Because for years I was relentlessly pursued by a remarkably humorless Glenbrook dean about attendance, pranks and off-campus excursions — and because my best friend was in fact named Buehler — I’ve spent an inordinate amount of my life being unfairly accused of serving among the inspirations for Ferris Bueller.

But practicing law in Washington — a town where Vice President Al Gore faced cynicism not only for claiming to have invented the Internet, but also for claiming to have been the role model for Ryan O’Neal’s character in the movie “Love Story” — invites considerable caution. And our 15-year-old Marguerite reminds us that the real Ferris (Matthew Broderick) actually grew up to marry Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker).

That said, I’ll admit that Ferris-ian high jinks were the everyday stuff of our boyhood lives. Ferris clocked in at nine absences his final high school semester. My own was a breathtaking 27. That might explain the dean’s pursuit. The key was, from the time I entered high school, all sick notes from our mom were actually penned by our sister Sheila. Even the real ones.

Years later, that same dean caught our kid brothers bringing in actual notes from our actual mother, and busted them because he didn’t recognize the handwriting. Rookie mistake.

For one of those Chicago adventures, we secretly borrowed a car almost as ridiculously conspicuous as the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT in the movie: my dad’s purple Cadillac El Dorado (yes, purple). Put an extra 113 miles on the odometer. Hoping to erase that telltale mileage, we raised the back on a pair of jacks and ran the car in reverse. The Caddy did not fly backward into a ravine, as in the film. What it did do is quickly take off a clean 10,000 miles. Oops. (Yes, you bet he noticed.)

Whether or not we inspired Ferris, there’s no doubt his Day Off in 1986 left a lasting legacy for me and many others. Some trial lawyers attempt to channel “The Art of War.” Or lessons from the life of Genghis Khan. But the Tao of Ferris has its own wisdom. Hughes had Ferris talk directly to the camera. To us. He says, deal with your fear. Believe in yourself. Make sick days count. And: Do you realize that if we played by the rules, right now we’d be in gym?

In my service as a federal prosecutor and as a defense attorney, one key lesson from Ferris is his repeated message to his despondent buddy Cameron. Your current situation doesn’t have to be your fate. There’s always another way.

In high school we gained admission to a sold-out improv performance at Chicago’s Second City by claiming status as an advance crew for Kirk Douglas, then a major star who the papers said was in town filming. Pranking a comedy club seemed fair game. In the legendary scene where he tries to fake two friends into a fully booked restaurant, Ferris neglects to check the well-known name he borrows from the reservations list. “You’re Abe Froman?” the snooty maitre d’ huffs at 18-year-old Ferris. “That’s me,” Ferris insists. “Abe Froman?” scoffs the maitre d’. “The ‘Sausage King of Chicago?’ “

But Ferris is fearless. Doesn’t back down. And is seated with an apology.

Ferris’s lessons have bailed me out again and again over the years. When his high school class of 1986 finished college in 1990, Barbara Bush was confronted with what proved to be the most controversial address of her career. A graduation speech at Wellesley College. Some had objected to her status as merely a wife and mother.

She won the crowd with her powerful message about mermaids and CEOs, about diversity and choice. A presidential speechwriter at the time, I owed my minor contribution to Ferris. The speech needed humor, and maybe a touch of hip relevance. In urging young Americans to be a friend first, a sister or a brother first, a daughter or a son first, Mrs. Bush invoked Ferris: “Life moves pretty fast. If ya don’t stop and look around once in a while, ya gonna miss it!”

The crowd roared. And Mrs. Bush ad-libbed, perfectly: “I’m not gonna tell [the president] you clapped more for Ferris than you did for George.”

John Hughes knew that life moves pretty fast. And as with his films, his devotion to his family and his death at 59 last week serve as poignant reminders of that. For both teens and their parents, he helped crack the code on the exuberance and desperation of teen angst.

And while many say Hughes belonged to the ’80s, his work remains today remarkably accessible to multiple generations. Our daughter found “Sixteen Candles” on her own, and is an aficionado. Our dad attended high school in the ’40s, but is still slain every time dweeb dean Ed Rooney sees Ferris’s girlfriend Sloane kiss Ferris, disguised as her father: “So that’s how it is, in their family.” Dad doesn’t know we, too, borrowed his hat and glasses to impersonate him.

In creating his everyman heroes, Hughes makes clear his ultimate faith in youth. In “The Breakfast Club” his other iconic dean, the drill sergeant-like Richard Vernon, fears: “Someday these kids are gonna be running the country. This is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night.”

Mr. Vernon was wrong. Today those kids are doing a brilliant job. And many of them also remember the lessons of Ferris Bueller and John Hughes. Here’s but one example.

In my practice today, when representing those involved in government investigations, often the single most important goal to the client is to protect his anonymity. But while the law guarantees grand jury confidentiality, the doors around the courthouse are often clogged with camera crews recording every coming and going.

Over the years we’ve used side doors, back entrances and clients disguised as just another gray-suited lawyer. But none of those techniques can compete with a deft trick borrowed from Ferris Bueller.

On March 10, 1998, the van belonging to the office of Ken Starr, the independent counsel investigating President Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky controversy, pulled up to the D.C. courthouse. Out stepped two prosecutors and an FBI agent, well known to the media gaggle camped out there. Next came Kathleen Willey, a former White House volunteer, there to testify about her alleged 1993 Oval Office encounter with the president. The media also knew and expected her.

But there was a new face. Tall young man in a coat and tie, sporting earrings in each ear. The camera crews swooped, shouting and demanding: Who are you?

The New York Times, apparently lacking any anonymous sources who attended high school in the ’80s, reported it on the front page of the next day’s paper. Straight and without irony:

Mrs. Willey “was accompanied by her son, John Patrick Willey, 25, who cryptically identified himself as ‘the Sausage King of Chicago.’ “

Then the Times delivered the clincher: “He did not elaborate.”

Edward McNally, 53, a trial lawyer in private practice in New York and Washington, was a presidential speechwriter from 1989 to 1991, and was senior associate counsel to the president from 2001 to 2005.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/11/AR2009081103453.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224923/

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Today’s papers – August 11, 2009

Iraq attacks raise fears of renewed ethnic tensions

A man navigates the scene of an attack in Khazna, where twin truck bombs killed at least 35 people. The northern Iraqi village is home to the Shabak religious minority, which is loosely Muslim and identifies more with Shiites.

The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with the recent bomb attacks in northern Iraq and Baghdad that have killed at least 112 people since Friday and have once again raised fears that insurgents want to rekindle the sectarian conflict that once swept the country. The latest attacks amount to the most serious surge in violence since Iraqi security forces officially took over security in urban areas on June 30. An Iraqi police spokesman said the attacks had “al-Qaida in Iraq’s fingerprints all over them.”

The NYT also fronts the attacks in Iraq, and highlights how the most devastating attack basically flattened a village that is about 10 miles east of Mosul. The WSJ specifies that the two dump trucks that exploded contained 6,600 pounds of high-grade explosives. There was also a string of bombings in Baghdad, but the LAT points out that the “violence in and around the northern city of Mosul is the biggest concern” because it’s a stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq as well as Baathist insurgents who have an interest in firing up tensions to spark a civil war. Indeed, the attack yesterday, just like a similar one on Friday, appeared to be an attempt to heighten the conflict between Kurds and Arabs over a piece of territory. Everyone expects violence to continue increasing in advance of January’s elections as insurgents try to undermine confidence in the Iraqi government.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-bombing11-2009aug11,0,3800081.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124988461310318797.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html

Photo: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-bombing11-2009aug11,0,3800081.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124988461310318797.html

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Soaring deficit may defy forecasts

USA Today leads with a look at how the continuing economic woes could quadruple the size of last year’s federal budget deficit. The White House and the Congressional Budget Office are getting ready to release new deficit estimates that some predict could be worse than forecast and are likely to raise new questions about the cost of health-care reform.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-10-deficit_N.htm

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Obama Vows to Focus on Borders

The Washington Post leads with President Obama vowing to pursue comprehensive immigration reform while also cautioning that no one should expect legislation before 2010. At the end of a two-day summit with his counterparts from Mexico and Canada, Obama said any effort at reform must include “strong border security” as well as “a pathway to citizenship” for illegal immigrants who are already in the United States.

Obama acknowledged that passing comprehensive immigration reform would be anything but easy, yet he predicted he would be successful, despite the almost-certain objection from “demagogues out there who try to suggest that any form or pathway for legalization for those who are already in the United States is unacceptable.” Still, he said Congress wouldn’t pick up the issue until after it gets done with legislation on health care, energy, and financial regulation. “That’s a pretty big stack of bills,” Obama said.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081001797.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/world/americas/11prexy.html

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Mexico’s Drug Traffickers Continue Trade in Prison

The New York Times leads with a look at how Mexico’s prison system is a cesspool of corruption, where drug traffickers continue to operate their businesses and train new recruits while often planning their escape with the help of bribed guards. In fact, the top drug bosses often end up running things in prison and guards can essentially become their employees. The United States is devoting $4 million to try to fix the system, but in the meantime the Mexican government is extraditing a record number of drug traffickers to the United States.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/world/americas/11prisons.html

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In healthcare debate, ‘reality’ is in dispute

The LAT and NYT front a look at how the White House unveiled a new Web site yesterday to rebut what the administration decries as “misinformation” from opponents of health care reform. As President Obama prepares to hold three town-hall meetings this week, the administration is more forcefully fighting against rising public anxiety about the plan. The NYT points out that the Web site is a tacit acknowledgement that the White House is “suddenly at risk of losing control of the public debate over a signature issue” and must now play defense. While Democrats insist they were expecting opposition to their efforts, the growing intensity has caught them off guard. By taking on the Republican claims about the health care plans head on through the White House Web site and advertisements, the administration is going against the conventional wisdom that repeating rumors, even if it’s to dismiss them, ends up reinforcing them. But it’s a tactic that Obama employed during the campaign through a “fight the smears” section on his Web site. House Minority Leader John Boehner was quick to say the new White House Web site is filled with “errors, misstatements, and falsehoods.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-health-debate11-2009aug11,0,5643064.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/health/policy/11health.html

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Afghanistan Enlists Tribal Militia Forces

The WSJ goes inside with word that a new effort is under way to enlist Afghan tribal fighters in the war against the Taliban. Initially, thousands will be hired from 18 provinces to provide security for the Aug. 20 elections. If all goes as planned, the tribesmen could then get more permanent jobs protecting villages and neighborhoods. “We are trying to recreate the Awakening of Iraq here in Afghanistan,” said the director of the initiative. Their role is seen as particularly important in areas where there are no Afghan security forces. This isn’t the first time officials have tried to get local fighters to join up against the Taliban, but there are hopes the new effort will be more successful as it’s part of the broad plan to improve relations with tribes across the country.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124994313594220571.html

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Congo’s Rape Epidemic Worsens During U.S.-Backed Military Operation

In yet another horrifying dispatch from Congo, the WP‘s Stephanie McCrummen writes about how the U.S.-backed Congolese military operation that was supposed to save citizens from rebels has worsened what was an “already staggering epidemic of rape.” Women lock themselves inside before sundown and walk only in groups to avoid getting raped by soldiers who earn a pittance and often don’t even receive enough food to survive. Recently, every three soldiers got a single can of sardines that was supposed to last them for 15 days. “If I see a woman walking on the road, and I love her, I will take her. I will help myself,” said one lieutenant who is in charge of teaching his soldiers about human rights. “Now,” he continued, “buy me a beer so I don’t have to rob you.”

Early-morning wire reports report that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Congo today and spoke up against the proliferation of sexual violence. “The entire society needs to be speaking out against this,” she said. “It should be a mark of shame anywhere, in any country. I hope that that will become a real cause here … that will sweep across the country.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081000492.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090811/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/af_clinton_africa_3

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Change of Venue: In Retirement, Justice O’Connor Still Rules

The WSJ reports that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor may have retired from the Supreme Court in 2006, but she’s “still out there judging.” The 79-year-old jurist has been quietly visiting federal appellate courts across the country, sitting in for vacationing judges or in panels where there are vacancies. “It’s nice to keep your hand in a bit,” she said even as she admitted that most of the cases aren’t “particularly demanding, intellectually.” O’Connor has heard almost 80 cases and written more than a dozen opinions. “I now have occasion to have to apply some of those [Supreme Court] holdings with which I didn’t agree when they were made, but of course now they’re binding,” she said.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124994271588320565.html

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Long Beach Aquarium’s tiger shark is a picky eater

A tiger shark at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach eyes a piece of rancher’s reserve beef chuck boneless steak placed in the water by a staffer using tongs. Tiger sharks aren’t exactly known as picky eaters. In the wild, they eat everything from smaller sharks to copper wire. But the new 5-foot-long tiger shark at the Aquarim of the Pacific in Long Beach, Calif. is anything but typical, reports the LAT. The shark has caused innumerable headaches to the aquarium staff as her finicky taste buds sometimes lead her to reject restaurant-grade ahi tuna, mahi-mahi, and halibut, to name three of the 30 potential food choices that could be offered to the high-maintenance shark. “Some days she won’t eat,” said the man who is in charge of keeping the shark happy. “Other days she goes on benders, feasting only on one type of food. Her tastes change from one day to the next. The tricky part is figuring out what thing triggers her hunger on a given day.”

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Full article and photo: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-outthere11-2009aug11,0,2353549.story

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224837/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/11/year-vulture

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Today’s papers – August 10, 2009

U.S. to Hunt Down Afghan Drug Lords Tied to Taliban

The New York Times leads with word that the Pentagon has placed 50 major Afghan drug traffickers with ties to the Taliban on a list of targets to be captured or killed. The paper got an early look at a congressional study set to be released this week and notes that by putting drug traffickers on the same list as insurgent leaders, the United States is drastically changing its counternarcotics strategy in Afghanistan.

Military commanders have told lawmakers the new policy to go after major drug traffickers with the same level of intensity as militant leaders is perfectly legal and essential to making it more difficult for Taliban fighters to operate in Afghanistan. And they emphasized that only drug traffickers who helped finance the Taliban were put on the list. NATO allies were skeptical at first, but now say that there are sufficient safeguards in place to make sure everything remains legal. The report to be released by Congress this week also states that previous studies may have overestimated the amount of money the Taliban receives from the drug trade.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/world/asia/10afghan.html

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Preparing for Swine Flu’s Return

 The Washington Post leads with a look at how the United States, along with other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, is preparing for a second wave of swine flu, which could start hitting with a vengeance in the next few weeks. Several countries in the Southern Hemisphere have been hit particularly hard during their winter, and everyone expects it to continue spreading. Britain has reported a recent increase in swine flu cases and set up a system to distribute drugs. Meanwhile, there are growing concerns the H1N1 virus could cause a huge number of fatalities if it begins to infect many people in some of the world’s poorest countries.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902447.html

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Poll: Americans want health care bill, but not the cost

USA Today leads with a poll on health care that shows how people’s opinions are all over the map and sometimes conflict. Seniors are certainly the most resistant to change, and with the exception of the youngest age group, the idea of controlling costs is seen as a higher priority than expanding coverage to the uninsured. Those with insurance and no significant health problems don’t think the issue is so urgent that something must be done this year.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-13-poll-health-care_N.htm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-10-healthcarepoll_N.htm

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Taliban Now Winning

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with an interview with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan, who warned U.S. casualties would remain high in the coming months as more soldiers are sent to population centers. Several officials say they expect McChrystal to ask for as many as 10,000 more troops.

The full article reads:

Taliban Now Winning

U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Warns of Rising Casualties

The Taliban have gained the upper hand in Afghanistan, the top American commander there said, forcing the U.S. to change its strategy in the eight-year-old conflict by increasing the number of troops in heavily populated areas like the volatile southern city of Kandahar, the insurgency’s spiritual home.

Two boys watch a U.S. soldier Sunday during a dawn patrol in Kunar Province in northeastern Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander, is making protection of civilians a priority over hunting Taliban rebels.

Gen. Stanley McChrystal warned that means U.S. casualties, already running at record levels, will remain high for months to come.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, the commander offered a preview of the strategic assessment he is to deliver to Washington later this month, saying the troop shifts are designed to better protect Afghan civilians from rising levels of Taliban violence and intimidation. The coming redeployments are the clearest manifestation to date of Gen. McChrystal’s strategy for Afghanistan, which puts a premium on safeguarding the Afghan population rather than hunting down militants.

Gen. McChrystal said the Taliban are moving beyond their traditional strongholds in southern Afghanistan to threaten formerly stable areas in the north and west.

The militants are mounting sophisticated attacks that combine roadside bombs with ambushes by small teams of heavily armed militants, causing significant numbers of U.S. fatalities, he said. July was the bloodiest month of the war for American and British forces, and 12 more American troops have already been killed in August.

“It’s a very aggressive enemy right now,” Gen. McChrystal said in the interview Saturday at his office in a fortified NATO compound in Kabul. “We’ve got to stop their momentum, stop their initiative. It’s hard work.”

In an effort to regain the upper hand, Gen. McChrystal said he will redeploy some troops currently in sparsely populated areas to areas with larger concentrations of Afghan civilians, while some of the 4,000 American troops still to arrive will be deployed to Kandahar.

The Obama administration is in the midst of an Afghan buildup that will push U.S. troop levels here to a record 68,000 by year end. There are roughly an additional 30,000 troops from North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries and other allies.

Gen. McChrystal’s predecessor, Gen. David McKiernan, had a request outstanding for 10,000 more troops. Gen. McChrystal said he hadn’t decided whether to request additional U.S. forces. “We’re still working it,” he said.

Several officials who have taken part in Gen. McChrystal’s 60-day review of the war effort said they expect him to ultimately request as many as 10,000 more troops — a request many observers say will be a tough sell at the White House, where several senior administration officials have said publicly that they want to hold off on sending more troops until the impact of the initial influx of 21,000 reinforcements can be gauged.

The U.S. war effort in Afghanistan is costing American taxpayers about $4 billion a month.

Gen. McChrystal also said he would direct a “very significant” expansion of the Afghan army and national police — which would double in size under the plans being finalized by senior U.S. military officers here — and import a tactic first used in Iraq by moving U.S. troops onto small outposts in individual Afghan neighborhoods and villages.

The Los Angeles Times leads locally with a look at how lawyers are having considerable success at getting courts to declare that certain budget cuts passed by the legislature are illegal. These lawsuits are one reason why most expect the recently approved spending plan that closes California’s massive budget gap will end up collapsing.

One person briefed on the assessment said it will call for boosting the Afghan army to 240,000 from 135,000 and the Afghan police to 160,000 from 82,000.

One official noted the emerging plans to double the size of the Afghan army and police will require thousands of additional U.S. trainers. The U.S. will also need more troops if security conditions in north and west Afghanistan continue to deteriorate, the official said. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the math,” he said. “The demand and the supply don’t line up, even with the new troops that are coming in.”

In earlier phases of the assessment process, Gen. McChrystal’s staff conducted a “troop-to-task” analysis that weighed increasing U.S. troop levels by two brigades — each such unit has 3,500 to 5,000 troops — or by as many as eight brigades, according to officials familiar with the matter. A middle option of four to six brigades was also considered, these people said.

The prospect of more troops rankles some of Gen. McChrystal’s advisers, who worry the American military footprint in Afghanistan is already too large.

“How many people do you bring in before the Afghans say, ‘You’re acting like the Russians’?” said one senior military official, referring to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s. “That’s the big debate going on in the headquarters right now.”

U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, center, meets Afghan citizens in Canada’s “model village” of Deh-e Bagh, Afghanistan, in June.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said publicly during his campaign for the approaching Aug. 20 elections that he wants to negotiate new agreements giving the Afghan government more control over the conduct of the foreign troops currently in the country.

Gen. McChrystal, however, says too many troops aren’t a concern. “I think it’s what you do, not how many you are. It’s how the force conducts itself.”

Regardless of how he resolves the internal debate on troop numbers, Gen. McChrystal’s coming report won’t include any specific requests for more U.S. troops. Those numbers would instead be detailed in a follow-on document that is set to be delivered to Washington a few weeks after the assessment.

The timing of Gen. McChrystal’s primary assessment remains in flux. It was initially due in mid-August, but the commander was summoned to a secret meeting in Belgium last week with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and told to take more time. Military officials say the assessment will now be released sometime after the Aug. 20 vote.

The shift came amid signs of growing U.S. unease about the direction of the war effort. Initial assessments delivered to Gen. McChrystal last month warned that the Taliban were strengthening their control over Kandahar, the largest city in southern Afghanistan.

American forces have been waging a major offensive in the neighboring southern province of Helmand, the center of Afghanistan’s drug trade. Some U.S. military officials believe the Taliban have taken advantage of the American preoccupation with Helmand to infiltrate Kandahar and set up shadow local governments and courts throughout the city.

“Helmand is a sideshow,” said the senior military official briefed on the analysis. “Kandahar is the capital of the south [and] that’s why they want it.”

Gen. McChrystal said in the interview that he planned to shift more U.S. troops to Kandahar to bolster the Canadian forces that currently have primary security responsibility for the region. Hundreds of American troops equipped with mobile armored vehicles known as Strykers are already in the province.

“It’s important and so we’re going to do whatever we got to do to ensure that Kandahar is secure,” he said. “With the arrival of the new U.S. forces we’ll have the ability to put some more combat power in the area.”

Despite the mounting concern about the Taliban’s infiltration of Kandahar, there are clear limits to how soon additional U.S. forces can be sent to the city.

Moving forces from neighboring Helmand is nearly impossible, because those troops have already set up forward bases and recruited help from local tribal leaders, who have been promised American backing. As a result, the additional American troop deployments to Kandahar have only begun in recent days, with the arrival of new reinforcements that will continue into the fall.

Gen. McChrystal defended the decision to focus first on Helmand. The current operation, one of the largest since the start of the war in 2001, was meant to disrupt the Taliban’s lucrative drug operations there, he said.

The armed group reaps tens of millions of dollars annually from the sale of opium from Helmand, and the commander said he wants to have troops on the ground before local farmers start to plant their next batch of poppies in November. The U.S. is working to persuade Helmand’s farmers to replace their poppy fields with wheat and fruit.

The roughly 4,000 Marines in Helmand have been charged with putting Gen. McChrystal’s thinking about counterinsurgency into practice. They are trying to build local relationships by launching small development and reconstruction projects.

Gen. McChrystal said his new strategy had to show clear results within roughly 12 months to prevent public support for the war from evaporating in both the U.S. and Afghanistan.

“This is a period where people are really looking to see which way this is going to go,” he said. “It’s the critical and decisive moment.”

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Full article and photos: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124986154654218153.html

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Lawsuits are the latest roadblock for California budget

The Los Angeles Times leads locally with a look at how lawyers are having considerable success at getting courts to declare that certain budget cuts passed by the legislature are illegal. These lawsuits are one reason why most expect the recently approved spending plan that closes California’s massive budget gap will end up collapsing”

The full article reads:

Lawsuits are the latest roadblock for California budget

Litigators go to court to undo cuts made by legislators and the governor. The state is spending billions of dollars fighting the lawsuits and dealing with increasingly unfavorable rulings.

Well-connected lobbyists, political pressure and a good turnout at committee hearings used to be the special interest recipe for protecting turf in the state budget. Now, a potent new ingredient is being increasingly thrown into the mix: top-shelf litigators.

Lawyers are being drafted in droves to unravel spending plans passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. The goal of these litigators is to get back money their clients lost in the budget process. They are having considerable success, winning one lawsuit after another, costing the state billions of dollars and throwing California’s budget process into further tumult.

In the last few months alone, the courts added more than a billion dollars to the state’s deficit by declaring illegal reductions in healthcare services, redevelopment agency funds and transportation spending. Another ruling threatens to deprive California of all its federal stimulus money if the state does not rescind a cut to the salaries of home healthcare workers.

Lawyers are scrambling to prepare additional suits related to the budget plan the governor signed last month. On Friday, Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) — who negotiated the budget — announced that even he plans to sue. Steinberg said the governor illegally made more than $500 million worth of cuts in the budget plan passed by lawmakers.

“We are seeing more lawsuits and more victories by the groups filing them,” said Bob Hertzberg, a former Assembly speaker who now is chairman of California Forward, a think tank focused on reforming the budget process. “They don’t want to compromise. . . . It’s easier to hire lawyers than lobbyists, and you probably get better outcomes.”

The attorneys are seizing on state laws that were drafted in sunnier economic times, some of which were put in place by citizen initiative. They created new programs or expanded existing ones and contained language intended to solidify the place of those programs in state government. Now, the state is broke, and lawmakers and the governor are finding their attempts to take money from the programs rebuffed by the courts. Just the lawsuits themselves cost the state millions of dollars in attorney salaries and other legal fees.

“It’s the nature of trying to navigate a budget that has become more and more complicated and more and more difficult to make changes in,” said Michael Cohen, a budget expert at the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, to which lawmakers look for advice on fiscal matters.

He said ironclad assurances that programs will be funded have been etched into the law by lawmakers and voters who “can’t always see the future in terms of changing priorities or different circumstances that might come along later.”

Lawsuits are one reason most in Sacramento expect a quick collapse of the spending plan the governor signed last month to wipe out a deficit of about $24 billion. There is talk of the governor needing to call an emergency session in the fall so lawmakers can get back to work keeping the state solvent.

Even before last month’s signing, multiple groups announced their intention to sue. No sooner was the ink on the budget dry than the California Redevelopment Assn. posted an alert on its website calling for members to sign on as plaintiffs in a lawsuit that was being drafted by the law firm of McDonough, Holland & Allen.

The suit would challenge, among other things, a shuffling of state funds away from redevelopment and into school districts. If the association’s litigation succeeded, it would throw the budget out of balance by as much as $2 billion.

That suit would join more than a dozen other big ones pending against the state.

Among them is one in which a court ruled in June that several past raids of public transit money were illegal. The decision did not force the state to return funds, but it blocked taking any more.

Josh Shaw, executive director of the nonprofit California Transit Assn. and a lead plaintiff, said the suit “strikes at the heart of the gimmicks that have been employed year after year in putting together the state budget.”

The ruling left lawmakers and the governor scrambling to find a replacement for up to $1 billion of the money they had hoped to use to wipe out the deficit.

The alternative they came up with was to take other transportation funds. But the new pot of money lawmakers wanted to raid was sacred to local governments. They use the funds for road maintenance, street sweeping and other services. The proposal died under the weight of city and county opposition during the all-night legislative session last month when lawmakers passed the budget, leaving a billion-dollar hole in their spending plan.

Medi-Cal doctors, meanwhile, this year have managed to roll back a $1.1-billion cut in their reimbursements. A federal appeals court declared illegal a 10% cut in what physicians are paid by Medi-Cal, the government healthcare program for the poor, that was implemented in July 2008. The court ruled the cut would drive doctors out of the program, endangering the ability of patients to get care and thereby violating minimum federal standards for the program.

Some analysts say that although interest groups have become savvier in their use of litigation, state officials have also invited the suits through their desperate and often sloppy budgeting.

The lawsuits are “a product of the desperation of the people trying to forge budget agreements,” said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a think tank that analyzes the effects of spending policies on low-income Californians. “All of the easy solutions are gone. The choices are hard, the gap is wide. People look to riskier and riskier options to come up with savings.”

It is hardly a secret in the Capitol that lawmakers sometimes approve budget measures despite their dubious legality because it buys them time. The hope is that by the time the appeals process is finally exhausted — which can take years — the economy will have rebounded, filling the gap with new revenue. It’s a kind of borrowing.

Such was the case with a plan a few years ago to put off some payments into the pension fund for government workers.

The plan was passed in 2004, on the tail end of the last budget crisis. It stayed on the books for several years. By the time it wound its way through the litigation process, state revenues were on the rebound and there was enough cash to take the plan off the books.

“These cases can go on for a while,” said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, a professor of public policy at UCLA. “It’s a way of pushing liabilities into the future.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lawsuits10-2009aug10,0,6482327.story

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Obama’s grass-roots network is put to the test

As conservative groups and other opponents of health care reform launch efforts to disrupt Democratic town hall meetings many have been wondering where in the world are the foot soldiers that were so instrumental to President Obama’s victory in November. The LAT takes a look at how the Organizing for America network has been slow to get started because it is still trying to figure out how to best operate, and there have apparently been disagreements on what tactics should be pursued. The troubles the network now has to deal with illustrate how it’s not so easy to take a campaign operation and turn it into a network of supporters who can persuade their neighbors to support specific policies. Part of the problem is that many who joined the network during the campaign lean heavily to the left and have found themselves disenchanted by Obama since he moved into the White House.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-na-health-grassroots10-2009aug10,0,7896694.story

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A Primer on the Details of Health Care Reform

For those still confused about what the battle is all about, the NYT publishes a useful summary.

The full article reads:

A Primer on the Details of Health Care Reform

With the debate over the future of health care now shifted from Capitol Hill to town halls, supporters and critics of the Democrats’ legislative proposals are polishing their sound bites and sharpening their attack lines.

Increasingly, the battle looks like a presidential contest, with expensive advertising campaigns and Internet-driven efforts to mobilize local support. It can be difficult to sort fact from fiction, as angry protesters denounce the legislation at raucous public forums.

President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress have made the health care overhaul their top priority, putting their political futures on the line. Democrats had hoped to spend the month whipping up support for the legislation, but instead find themselves on the defensive, responding to what Mr. Obama describes as “outlandish rumors” spread by critics.

Many Republicans view fighting the president as a smart political strategy, turning a potentially wonkish debate over Medicare reimbursement rates and subsidies for the uninsured into an ideological battle over the government’s role in health care.

Each side hopes to win ground by boiling down one of the most complex policy discussions in history into digestible nuggets. For beachside viewers who might be more interested in iced-tea service than fee-for-service, here is a guide to the main fight points.

KEEP IT OR LOSE IT?

Mr. Obama has said repeatedly, as he told the American Medical Association in June: “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”

These assurances reflect an aspiration, but may not be literally true or enforceable.

The legislation does not require insurers or employers to continue offering the health benefits they now provide. The House bill sets detailed standards for “acceptable health care coverage,” which would define “essential benefits” and permissible co-payments. Employers that already offer insurance would have five years to bring their plans into compliance with the new federal standards.

The Senate health committee bill goes somewhat further by offering an “option to retain current insurance coverage.”

The legislation could have significant implications for individuals who have bought coverage on their own. Their policies might be exempted from the new standards, but the coverage might not be viable for long because insurers could not add benefits or enroll additional people in noncompliant policies.

Dallas L. Salisbury, president of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a private nonpartisan group, said: “The president and Democrats in Congress are saying what they would like. Their promises may not be literally true because your health plan may change, and your doctor may no longer accept your insurance.”

SOCIALIZED MEDICINE

Or Uniquely American?

Republicans harshly criticize Democratic proposals to create a government-run insurance plan, or public option, to compete with private insurers. Republicans say the public plan would drive insurers out of business and lead to “socialized medicine” or a government takeover of health care. Democrats say they want a “uniquely American” system with public and private elements.

For now, the Republican criticism seems overblown. Major versions of the legislation all rely heavily on a continuation of private health plans, offered by employers and by insurance companies, subject to sweeping new federal regulations.

Whether a public plan would crowd out private insurers depends on details yet to be decided, including its premiums and its payment rates for health care providers.

The public plan is not even a certainty. To win bipartisan support for the overhaul, some Democrats have proposed private nonprofit health care cooperatives, instead of a public plan, to compete with private insurers.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that, under the House bill, the number of people with employer-sponsored insurance would climb to 162 million in 2016, which is 3 million more than expected under current law. Further, it said, enrollment in the proposed public plan might total 11 million, far lower than estimates cited by Republicans.

An additional 10 million people, most of them now uninsured, would enroll in Medicaid, the budget office said.

At any rate, the federal government already holds sway over the health care system through Medicare, Medicaid and various insurance programs for children, veterans, military personnel and other federal employees. The federal government will account for 35 percent of the expected $2.5 trillion in health spending this year, and that does not include subsidies built into the tax code.

BLAMING INSURERS

Or Ensuring Blame?

Democrats have unleashed a blistering attack on private health insurers as they try to convince the vast majority of Americans who already have coverage that the current system is tilted in favor of corporate profits, not patients, and that insurers are a main obstacle to passing legislation.

Insurers say they support some of the most important Democratic proposals, including a ban on denying coverage or charging higher premiums based on pre-existing medical conditions.

The insurance industry does oppose a government-run insurance plan and could eventually mobilize against the overhaul. But insurers appear to be less of an obstacle than public apprehension over such sweeping change and skittishness among lawmakers, including centrist Democrats from Republican-leaning districts.

Most Americans do not know the full cost of their employer-sponsored insurance. And it is easier for Democrats to paint insurers as greedy than to explain the complex math that shows current health care spending is unsustainable.

DEFICIT-NEUTRAL

Or Budget-Buster?

Mr. Obama has avoided dictating specific provisions of health care legislation. But he has insisted that the bill not add to the federal debt, leading Democrats to say that the overhaul will be “deficit neutral,” with the roughly $1 trillion, 10-year cost to be offset by reduced spending or new taxes.

The Congressional Budget Office has yet to issue cost estimates for the latest versions of the bill approved by three House committees. But it has warned that the legislation “would probably generate substantial increases in federal budget deficits” beyond 2019, in part because health costs are rising faster than the rate of inflation and proposed new taxes would not keep up.

Republicans use those warnings to cast doubt on the claim by Mr. Obama that the legislation will “bend the cost curve” by slowing the growth of health spending in the long term. Democrats say the overhaul will lead to savings that cannot be calculated under budgeting rules. At this point, it is difficult to know who is right.

Over the next 10 years, the budget office said, the House bill would “result in a net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion,” partly because of an increase in Medicare spending to avert sharp cuts in payments to doctors scheduled to occur under existing law.

House Democrats say the higher doctor payments should not count in the cost because they fix a problem that predates the Obama administration and Democratic control of Congress.

EUTHANASIA

And Abortion

Conservative critics say the legislation could limit end-of-life care and even encourage euthanasia. Moreover, some assert, it would require people to draw up plans saying how they want to die.

These concerns appear to be unfounded. AARP, the lobby for older Americans, says, “The rumors out there are flat-out lies.”

The House bill would provide Medicare coverage for optional consultations with doctors who advise patients on life-sustaining treatment and “end-of-life services,” including hospice care.

The legislation instructs Medicare officials to propose ways to measure the quality of end-of-life care. Doctors would have financial incentives to report data on such care to the government.

On abortion, the situation is more complex. Opponents of abortion, like the National Right to Life Committee, say the legislation would use tax dollars to subsidize insurance that could cover abortion.

Under a bill approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, health plans, including the new government insurance plan, could choose to cover abortion. But they generally could not use federal money to pay for the procedure and instead would have to use money from the premiums paid by beneficiaries.

Douglas D. Johnson, legislative director of the National Right to Life Committee, said, “Under either the Senate bill or the House bill, the federal government would run a huge system of subsidizing elective abortion.”

Representative Diana DeGette, Democrat of Colorado, said the bill would keep current restrictions on the use of federal money for abortion, but “would not expand the prohibitions, as many Republicans want to do.”

CUTTING MEDICARE

Or Preserving It?

To help finance coverage for the uninsured, Congress would squeeze huge savings out of Medicare, the program for older Americans and the disabled. These savings would pay nearly 40 percent of the bills’ cost.

The legislation would trim Medicare payments for most services, as an incentive for hospitals and other health care providers to become more efficient. The providers make a plausible case that the cutbacks could inadvertently reduce beneficiaries’ access to some types of care.

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said Democrats would make “massive cuts to Medicare to pay for more government-run health care.”

Mr. Obama told AARP last month, “Nobody is talking about reducing Medicare benefits.” All the savings, he said, would come from measures to “eliminate waste and inefficiency in Medicare.” As an example, he cited duplicative tests ordered by different doctors for the same patient.

But some proposals could affect beneficiaries. The major bills in Congress would cut more than $150 billion over 10 years from federal payments to private health plans that care for more than 10 million Medicare beneficiaries.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/health/policy/10facts.html

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Sticking Pins in a Surging Dow

Economic growth forecasts and the jobless rate are both steadily improving, as is housing demand. The Dow is up 43 percent over the past five months. Then why so many pessimistic articles this morning saying we’re experiencing a false rebound? As the Wall Street Journal writes, “there is a smudge on the picture”—a polite way to say don’t believe the hype. “A surprisingly large number of money managers and economists are warning that, despite the hopeful signs, the economy is still deep in the woods, not strong enough to support a long-running stock and bond recovery,” the newspaper continues. The turnaround in the stock markets can be more attributed to actions in Washington, not Wall Street. And, furthermore, the newspaper continues, America’s crushing personal debt load will limit any sustained growth for years. Market experts, the newspaper writes, “are warning that the economic-growth surge expected for the second half of this year could be followed by slower growth and a softer stock market in 2010.”

Business Week, too, believes the current stock market resurgence is an illusory one. Why? Analyze the results so far of company earnings, and there is little growth to be found. “Companies produced profits by slashing spending, not by growing sales. While more than 70% of companies beat profit expectations, only about 35% beat analysts’ revenue estimates,” Business Week writes, citing research from Thomson Reuters.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124985909381317991.html (subscriber content preview)

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/aug2009/pi2009087_585511.htm

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China using stickers to quell tension

USAT fronts a look at how China’s reaction to the ethnic riots that killed almost 200 people in the country’s far western province of Xinjiang has followed a familiar script that shows how the country’s leaders have become good at short-term damage control. After rounding up at least 1,600 people, the government has launched a propaganda campaign that included unfurling numerous red cloth banners that proclaim, among other slogans, “Ethnic unity is good!” Almost 2,000 volunteers are handing out 100,000 smiley-face stickers that have the slogan, “A smile is the common language of all nationalities” in both Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. Government officials have also identified a common enemy by blaming unrest on Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighur leader who lives in the United States. And, finally, there has been a surge in public spending in the area. Experts say that all these tactics do is cover up tensions that are bound to blow up again in the future.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-09-china-muslims_N.htm

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Pakistani Taliban preys on youths to bolster forces

The LAT fronts claims by the Pakistani military that the Taliban recruited and kidnapped young boys in the Swat Valley and took them to one of their training camps in the area. Four boys met with reporters and told of their experience being kidnapped, emphasizing that while some busily planned their escape from day one, others had volunteered and were happy to join the militants. Those the Taliban recruited were overwhelmingly poor and were convinced to join the militants with promises of a comfortable future. Some of the boys who have escaped claim boys as young as 7 or 8 were at the camps, but military officials say they can’t confirm that.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-taliban-boys10-2009aug10,0,5494826.story

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As Dubai’s Glitter Fades, Foreigners See Dark Side

The expatriate playground of Dubai has turned dangerous, reports the Post. Western expatriates who went to the city in search of the good life are now often increasingly fearful of getting arrested now that the economy is on the decline and the government is looking for someone to blame. As stock and property prices plummet, there have been more arrests for business-related crimes, such as a bounced check. Foreigners are often kept in jail for weeks or months before they’re charged with anything. As a result, a growing number of foreigners have decided to leave, or escape, the United Arab Emirates.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/09/AR2009080902421.html

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Seattle Paper Is Resurgent as a Solo Act

The NYT reports that the Seattle Times is thriving. Or at least not dying. Just yet. When the paper’s rival, Post-Intelligencer, folded in March, many predicted it would only be a matter of time before the Seattle Times followed suit. But the paper managed to pick up most of the subscribers from the Post-Intelligencer and is actually making a profit, although it won’t reveal how much. And perhaps even more surprising, SeattlePI.com is also doing quite well with a bare-bones staff that relies heavily on content produced by unpaid bloggers.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/business/media/10seattle.html

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Breakfast Can Wait. The Day’s First Stop Is Online.

The NYT takes a look at how technology has added “an extra layer of chaos to the already discombobulating morning scramble” in households across the country. While mornings used to be a time to quickly have breakfast and maybe read a bit of the paper before rushing out the door, now going online is the first thing many people do, even before going to the bathroom. One Michigan couple sends their sons text messages, which they apparently use as “an in-houe intercom,” to wake them up. “Things that I thought were unacceptable a few years ago are now commonplace in my house,” the mom said, “like all four of us starting the day on four computers in four separate rooms.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10morning.html

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574341283698845594.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224775/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/10/sticking-pins-surging-dow

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Today’s papers – August 9, 2009

Criminal investigation into CIA treatment of detainees expected

The Los Angeles Times leads with the news that U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is likely to appoint a criminal prosecutor to look into abuses committed during CIA interrogations of terrorism suspects. The prosecutor will evaluate whether the CIA employed tactics not authorized by Bush administration memos, not the legality of the controversial, so-called torture memos themselves.

Officials are almost certain that Holder will choose a special prosecutor from a shortlist recently assembled at the Department of Justice at his request. But the LAT exclusive does not make clear whether this will be a hard-hitting investigation or an ineffectual gesture at duty by the DoJ. The investigation will be narrow in scope, and one former Justice Department official thinks it’s doomed to fail, arguing, “[I]t would go on forever and cause enormous collateral damage on the way to getting that unsuccessful result.” It will be difficult to obtain good evidence, and the case would lack precedent. Water-boarding is an obvious practice that would come under fire, as would other previously undisclosed incidents, including the time a CIA official brought a gun into an interrogation room to intimidate a prisoner.

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Full article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cia-interrogate9-2009aug09,0,34626.story

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9 Dead After Copter and Plane Collide Over Hudson

The New York Times leads with yesterday’s plane crash over the Hudson River, in which a small plane collided with a tourist helicopter, killing nine people. Three of the bodies have been recovered so far.

Yesterday’s plane crash in New York City came as a shock to the many onlookers outside enjoying the clear summer day. Witnesses said the two aircraft appeared to be flying dangerously close to each other before the plane flew up and into the helicopter with a thunderous crash. The plane carried three people from Pennsylvania, and the helicopter held five visiting Italians and the pilot. The WP points out that that stretch of airspace is often crowded, and all the coverage notes that small aircraft fly there with few regulations.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/continuous/09crash.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080801180.html

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Metro Safety System Failed in Near Miss Before June Crash

The Washington Post leads with the news that Metro’s crash-avoidance system had malfunctioned three months before this summer’s deadly collision, when a train operator had to apply the emergency brake so as not to overshoot a station platform on Capitol Hill. Metro officials failed to report this incident and the ensuing investigation to federal officials investigating the June Red Line crash.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080801142.html

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Paulson’s Calls to Goldman Tested Ethics

Both the NYT and the WP front stories on government talks with businesses during the recession. The NYT off-lead questions the ethics of conversations between former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Goldman Sachs last fall. As the former head of Goldman, Paulson had taken his position as treasury secretary with the promise to secure ethics waivers any time he had substantial dealings with the company. During the week in September 2008 when the government bailed out AIG, Paulson spoke with Goldman Sachs’ chief executive two dozen times (more often than with any other Wall Street executive), several of which occurred before Paulson obtained an ethics waiver. Now the timing of the conversations and the fact that monies from the AIG bailout paid off Goldman Sachs are raising eyebrows on Capitol Hill.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/business/09paulson.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080801950.html

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Pay Czar Quietly Meets With Rescued Companies

Meanwhile, the WP fronts word that Obama’s compensation czar is meeting with seven companies that received bailout money to discuss how much their top executives will be paid this year. Kenneth R. Feinberg has the tricky job of setting the pay for the top 25 employees of companies like AIG, Bank of America, and Citigroup and approving the pay for the top 100 employees of these and other companies. The talks have been very secretive, but this seems certain to be a story that will call for more scrutiny in the coming weeks.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802532.html

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Obama Heads to Summit as North America Braces for Swine Flu

President Obama departs today for a summit with his counterparts from Mexico and Canada, according to Bloomberg. At the two-day meeting in Guadalajara, discussion topics will include “easing trade friction, dealing with the recession, battling drug crime and paving the way for climate talks later this year.” Also on the list will be a conversation about the challenges posed by the return of the pandemic flu earlier this year. All three countries are still hurting from the recession, which has put a strain on their relationships over recent months. “Canada and Mexico are the U.S.’s first- and third-largest trading partners, generating more than $950 billion of imports and exports last year,” the article says. And “Canada and Mexico account for 28 percent of all U.S. trade.”

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Full article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9F0s.P4kWgw

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080802449.html

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Sotomayor Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice

All the papers stuff stories on Sonia Sotomayor’s swearing-in as Supreme Court justice yesterday. The NYT and WP observe that Chief Justice John Roberts read the oath off a piece of paper to avoiding botching the words as he did during the president’s inauguration earlier this year. In the Style section, the NYT notes that Sotomayor fans have embraced the “wise Latina” phrase.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/us/politics/09sotomayor.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080800982.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-sotomayor-oath9-2009aug09,0,4036828.story?track=rss

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/fashion/09latina.html

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Iran Tries 2nd Group Accused of Overthrow Plot

Although it hardly seems possible for the Iranian government’s reputation to deteriorate further this summer, yesterday’s second round of trials for arrested election protesters shows there’s still opportunity for the country’s image to sink lower. All the papers highlight, and the LAT fronts, the forced-sounding confessions from the televised trials, including that of a young French lecturer kept in solitary confinement for sending an e-mail to a colleague about the unrest she witnessed in Esfahan after the election. The NYT reports that an Iranian judiciary official finally admitted that protesters had been tortured.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/08/AR2009080800238.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-trial9-2009aug09,0,3643755.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html

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In Ciudad Juarez, young women are vanishing

The LAT‘s front-page centerpiece reports that two dozen teenage girls and young women have disappeared in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Unlike the deaths of more than 350 impoverished women there between 1993 and 2008, this time, no one has discovered any bodies. Investigators have few leads, but some suspect that the middle- and working-class young women may have been forced into prostitution.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-juarez-missing9-2009aug09,0,4357807.story?page=1

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How to Recharge Your Soul

In the op-ed pages, the NYT‘s Nicholas Kristof offers practical camping tips for the computer-bound crowd because just as “you recharge your BlackBerry from time to time, you also should recharge your soul.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09kristof.html

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The North Korea Fallout

The News Americans Need

The WP enlists high-profile contributions from Henry Kissinger, who analyzes the foreign policy fallout from Bill Clinton’s trip to North Korea last week, and Dan Rather, who calls for President Obama to “convene a nonpartisan, blue-ribbon commission to assess the state of the news as an institution and an industry.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703071.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703183.html

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Party On, but No Tweets

As if Kristof’s column weren’t reminder enough, the NYT Style section also makes you wonder when technology begins to interfere with real life. Now some party hosts have taken it upon themselves to specify when guests aren’t welcome to chronicle the gathering on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and the like. Some who’ve embraced the idea find “that there’s something magical about a life less posted.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/fashion/09blogfree.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224771/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/09/did-government-play-favorites-goldman

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Today’s papers – August 8, 2009

Unemployment rate decline may indicate the recession has hit bottom

Everyone leads with the newest jobs report, which finds new job losses declining to their lowest level in a year, while the unemployment rate sinks slightly to 9.4 percent, compared with 9.5 percent in June.

The Los Angeles Times calls the report a sign that the economy is finally starting to turn around. While 247,000 jobs still disappeared last month, the New York Times writes that the relatively smaller job losses are a sign that businesses are less worried about the future. While that’s hardly good news, it’s still better than many analysts expected, causing the Dow Jones industrial average to rise by 114 points, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-jobs8-2009aug08,0,5584063.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/business/economy/08jobs.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124964812540714249.html

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In Jobless Rate Dip, a Partial Picture

The Washington Post focuses on the more sobering side of the report, noting that the unemployment rate fell only because 422,000 people have stopped looking for work. If the figures were readjusted to account for these people, the rate would fall at 9.7 percent, the NYT notes. The LAT reports that 14.5 million total people are out of work, while another 8.8 million are able to find only part-time work. The NYT writes that adding those figures together gives the country an unemployed/underemployed rate of 16.3 percent, compared with 16.5 percent last month.

The full article reads:

In Jobless Rate Dip, a Partial Picture

Unemployment dipped in July for the first time in 15 months, but the jobs data released Friday also brought into focus the limits of the budding economic recovery.

The new numbers raised hopes that the recession could be nearing an end. The unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent, from 9.5 percent in June, and employers slashed 247,000 jobs, the slowest rate of decline in nearly a year.

For all the optimism in Washington and on Wall Street — President Obama said the economy is “pointed in the right direction,” and the stock market rose 1.3 percent — some details in the report show that the labor market remains weak. The stabilization in the economy is not rippling through to ordinary American workers. Economists generally expect the unemployment rate to resume its rise in the coming months, ultimately reaching or surpassing 10 percent.

The July decline in the jobless rate came about not because more people had jobs, but because 422,000 people removed themselves from the labor force, essentially giving up the search for work. The number of long-term unemployed people — those who have been out of a job but looking for more than 26 weeks — rose by another 584,000.

“There’s nothing really happening right now,” said Marc Patterson, 31, a Southeast Washington resident unemployed for seven months who had little luck finding work as a janitor. “There aren’t too many jobs.”

And the number of jobs with employment services companies continued declining in July. Increases in that number tend to forecast broader gains in employment as companies reluctant to hire permanent employees bring on temps to handle rising demand.

“If we don’t see temp jobs go positive by September or October, in my mind, that would indicate we’ve got a longer way to go,” said Roy G. Krause, chief executive of Spherion, a large employment services firm. His own company saw modest growth in demand for workers in the second quarter, he said, as “some employers have cut back a little bit too much and therefore they’re starting to add a few people.”

The ongoing weakness in the job market is the key factor leaning against a robust recovery. The unemployment rate almost always lags at the end of recessions — sometimes by long periods of time — and many economists expect the unemployment rate to resume rising in the months ahead.

That is because as companies stop laying off workers in massive numbers, moderating the rate of job losses, those who have given up looking for work may re-enter the labor force — a major risk to an otherwise improving outlook.

“We’re still headed pretty quickly to 10 percent unemployment,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank. “Unemployment will be rising for the next year or more.”

And while the rate of job loss in July was slower than economists forecast, it still represents what is, by conventional measures, a very rapid contraction. Employers need to create around 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth, so it would take a major reversal for conditions to improve.

“We’re stabilizing the patient, but the patient is still sick,” Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis acknowledged in a conference call with reporters Friday.

There were signs of progress in the report. The average workweek ticked up slightly, to 33.1 hours, from an all-time low of 33 hours in June. The number of people working part-time who want a full-time job fell by 191,000, the second straight month of decline. Those numbers suggest that at least some employers are starting to reverse the cutbacks in workers’ schedules.

And the picture for payroll employment improved across many categories. There were gains not just in government employment, but in the leisure and hospitality sector and in education and health services. Even those sectors that continue shedding jobs are now doing so at a slower pace. The 52,000 jobs shed by manufacturers were the fewest lost by that sector in a year.

Another positive sign: The Labor Department revised upward its earlier, more negative estimates for job losses in June, suggesting those numbers were not as dire as first reported.

The Obama administration is in a tricky position, aiming to take credit for a stabilizing economy as it reminds people how much worse conditions were last winter, all while also appearing sympathetic to those who remain in dire employment situations. “We won’t rest until every American that is looking for work can find a job,” Obama said in the Rose Garden on Friday, also saying that the nation is beginning to put an end to the recession.

The rising number of the long-term unemployed is a particular problem for the administration since a growing number of people are facing the expiration of unemployment benefits. Solis said the administration will work with Congress to find a fix.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080700359.html

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As Economy Turns, Washington Looks Better

If the recession turns out to be milder than expected, it’s going to be because of swift, sizable government intervention program—at least according to the NYT. No, the paper doesn’t offer any evidence establishing a causal link between financial rescue efforts and economic health. Instead, the author points to historical examples of governments that decided not to intervene in a financial crisis, with disastrous results following close behind.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/business/08leonhardt.html

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Death of Pakistani Taliban leader Mahsud a major victory for U.S., Pakistan

The papers all off-lead with reports that Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed by a missile fired from an unmanned CIA airplane last Wednesday. The LAT is the most ebullient about the strike, hailing it as a great blow to the Taliban in that country. Mehsud was the most wanted man in Pakistan, having organized the killings of approximately 1,200 people, including former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The WP is a little more cautious, noting that while Mehsud was the link holding the county’s 13 Taliban factions together, killing him may prove to be just a temporary solution.

The NYT is even more skeptical, as analysts note that counterterrorism operations tend to focus too much on eliminating marquee figures. Everyone notes that Mehsud’s death puts the onus on Pakistan to take advantage of this moment and pursue remaining Taliban figures.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mahsud-pakistan8-2009aug08,0,4665928.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080700271.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/world/asia/08pstan.html

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Even for the Experienced Sotomayor, Many Changes Await

The WP fronts a look at difficult transition facing newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Her first case will involve a test of the court’s previous rulings on campaign finance issues—a little awkward for someone who just joined the team. The paper writes that joining the court is a learning experience for every new member, so scrutinizing Sotomayor’s early actions on the bench probably isn’t terribly useful, especially since many justices’ ideological positions shift in the years following their appointment.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080702078.html

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Health Debate Turns Hostile at Town Hall Meetings

All over the country, members of Congress are back in their districts for the August recess, taking the pulse of their constituents on a range of issues, most notably health care reform. And wherever there’s a congressman holding a town hall meeting on health care, there’s someone shouting over the top of the member’s comments, according to the NYT. While these might seem like spontaneous displays of voter passion, however, they’re actually planned demonstrations by conservative lobbying groups, including the organization responsible for last spring’s “tea parties.”

See also:

A Town-Hall Protest in Maryland

The protestors can misbehave. At a town hall he hosted in the Napa Valley on Monday, California Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson watched some in the crowd of 500 people shout down panelists. A spokesman for North Carolina Democrat Rep. Brad Miller has told reporters that his boss won’t be holding town hall meetings this month after receiving a death threat.

But the discontent is neither faked nor staged by the GOP. At the Mardela Springs event I attended, the parking lot was filled with Maryland license plates, the speakers made references to local areas and events, and everyone of the several people I spoke with lived in the congressman’s district. They were just upset and worried that the reforms Democrats were bent on enacting would hurt the economy and their ability to get the health care they needed.

This crowd was probably far more representative of the national mood than Mrs. Pelosi realizes. Mardela Springs is about 100 miles from the nation’s capital, on a strip of land that sits between the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Chesapeake Bay to the west. The district is filled with farms and is populated by farmers, mariners and retired beach bums. “We are not very political people. We are just ordinary people with ordinary concerns,” said Salisbury businessman Earl Nelson, who told me he voted for Mr. Kratovil. “But we are very concerned. I just hope he understands that.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204908604574334310398020486.html

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/us/politics/08townhall.html

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U.S. and Britain Again Target Afghan Poppies

As part of a continuing effort to get farmers in Afghanistan to stop planting poppies, the U.S. and British governments are about to launch a multimillion-dollar program aimed at encouraging other kinds of crops, according to the WP. The idea is to ease the nation’s farmers off drug farming, thereby denying corrupt politicians and the Taliban of vital funding. Of course, the paper admits that the U.S. government has tried this sort of thing before in other countries and met with decidedly mixed results.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703678.html

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Attacks on Homeless Bring Push on Hate Crime Laws

The number of unprovoked attacks against homeless people is on the rise, reports the NYT. Experts point out that 58 percent of these attacks are perpetrated by teenagers.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/us/08homeless.html

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It’s Time to Stay the Courier

In the NYT‘s business section, Joe Nocera takes a look at the staggering challenges facing the U.S. Postal Service.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/business/08nocera.html

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Reality Check, Please

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay made a name for himself helping struggling restaurants turn themselves around. Now the WSJ says he’s got to fight to keep his own eateries open in the face of a difficult recession.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124967205185415131.html

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Terror Comes in the Shape Of Summertime Footwear

Really, really hate flip-flops? The WP notes the peculiar brand of rage that the seemingly innocuous footwear instigates in some people.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080604277.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224769/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/08/unemployment-falls-half-million-jobless-sit-out

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Today’s papers – August 7, 2009

Sotomayor Confirmed by Senate, 68-31

The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with the Senate confirming Sonia Sotomayor as the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court. After three days of debate, the final vote, 68-31, was largely along party lines, although nine Republicans did cross over and vote for Sotomayor’s confirmation.

The White House went into celebratory mode, and President Obama hailed her confirmation as “breaking yet another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union.” Chief Justice John Roberts will swear in the Supreme Court’s newest member Saturday morning.

USAT says the White House celebration was tempered by the fact that “the vote was not nearly as bipartisan as Obama had sought.” But the LAT says that, ultimately, more Republicans voted for her than was expected. The WSJ declares it was a victory for the White House that senators voted within the timetable that the administration had requested.

The WP highlights that Sotomayor got more votes against her than Roberts but fewer than President George W. Bush’s other nominee, Samuel Alito. Republicans also tried to claim a victory of their own, stating that during the hearings, Sotomayor and Democratic senators spoke against the idea that empathy is an important qualification to serve on the nation’s highest court. “It will now be harder to nominate activist judges,” Sen. Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on the judiciary committee, said.

The LAT highlights that, while lots of attention has been paid to Sotomayor’s experience as a Latina, there are plenty of other reasons why she will “bring new perspectives” to the Supreme Court. She was also raised in a public housing project and will be the only justice whose first language isn’t English. She also has diabetes, which is classified as a disability under federal law. Advocates for those with disabilities have suffered several defeats in recent years and are hoping that they will get a new ally with Sotomayor. Plus, some are predicting that the simple fact that she’s a single woman could make a difference in how she sees the legal rights of nontraditional families.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/us/politics/07confirm.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124955682673110741.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2009-08-05-sotomayor_N.htm

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sotomayor7-2009aug07,0,4571672.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080601706.html

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Congress Gets an Upgrade

Lawmakers love to criticize corporations that fly their executives around in private jets while receiving taxpayer funds. But jets for federal officials who live off those funds? A totally different story, of course. The WSJ reports that House lawmakers added funds to buy eight jets to add to the fleet used by federal officials, for a total of $550 million. That is four more than what the Air Force requested for its fleet of passenger jets that are used by lawmakers, administration officials, and military chiefs on government trips. The Pentagon says it doesn’t need the additional planes, but lawmakers perhaps think they do since foreign travel by lawmakers has been increasing lately and there is often a shortage of planes when Congress is in recess.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124960404730212955.html

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5 U.S. troops killed as Afghan violence swells

Everyone goes inside with news that five U.S. troops were killed in the same western province of Afghanistan over a period of 24 hours. Four of them were killed by a single roadside bomb. So far, 11 servicemembers have been killed in August.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghan-violence7-2009aug07,0,6266361.story

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White House Struggles to Gauge Afghan Success

In a separate piece inside, the NYT says the White House is struggling to come up with a way to measure progress in Afghanistan. Obama has often said that having appropriate “metrics” of success was an essential component to get lawmakers and the public to support the military effort. Having a reliable measure of progress will be particularly important if commanders do end up asking for more troops. Problem is that, as the Bush administration learned with Iraq, it’s not easy to figure out what to measure, and the numbers can often end up being misleading. Administration officials are emphasizing that they’re taking longer than expected because they want to make sure to get it right, but some lawmakers say it’s ridiculous that after more than seven years of war there is no reliable way to know how things are going.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/world/asia/07policy.html

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Death of Pakistan Taliban chief Baitullah Mahsud is confirmed

The LAT goes inside with confirmation from a Pakistani minister that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a CIA drone strike. The rest of the papers note that American and Pakistani officials are investigating whether he was killed, but the NYT says American officials “were growing increasingly confident” last night that Mehsud, an al-Qaida ally, was killed. He was Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist and believed to have been the mastermind behind the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. One official tells the WSJ that Mehsud’s death “would be a big victory” for both the United States and the Pakistani government.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-mahsud7-2009aug07,0,5382221.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/world/asia/07pstan.html

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Senate OKs expansion of cash-for-clunkers program

Everyone notes that there will now be more cash available for clunkers, as the Senate voted to devote $2 billion more in funding to the popular initiative that gives drivers up to $4,500 to trade in a car that gets less than 18 mpg for a more fuel-efficient vehicle. Some are skeptical the extension will prove as popular as the first round, and others question the long-term impact of the program as a whole. “The Cash for Clunkers at this point is like one of those energy drinks,” an expert tells the Post. “It gives you a short-term boost, then you crash and you fall back into the doldrums.”

Automakers are faced with a dilemma: Should they increase production or leave consumers to forage through lean car lots? As the Wall Street Journal puts it, “consumers who missed the first round of the program could have fewer choices and potentially pay more unless auto makers accelerate production.” Another loser could be the fledgling alternative-energy sector. As the New York Times points out, “The additional [$2 billion] is borrowed from another stimulus program, a loan program for green energy projects.” The newspaper adds that lawmakers are keen to keep that funding alive, and “so the cash-for-clunkers extension spending will probably add to the federal deficit.”

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-08-05-cash-for-clunkers-vote_N.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080601656.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124956255740210915.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/business/07clunker.html

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Mortgage Giants’ Revamp Disputed

Could troubled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be picked apart by regulators only to have their toxic assets deposited into a “bad bank”? That was the story making the rounds on Thursday, one the White House was quick to downplay, the Washington Post reports. While the White House was denying the bad-bank scenario is on the cards, the Washington Post, alluding to an internal e-mail it obtained, points out the Treasury Department and the White House’s National Economic Council are already deep into discussion on just such a proposal for the struggling lenders now under government control. Fannie Mae is not helping its case at all after reporting on Thursday yet another staggering loss—this time a $14.8 billion second-quarter loss. Fannie also acknowledged it needs another $10.7 billion from the Treasury, bringing its debts tally to Uncle Sam to $46 billion, the WSJ writes. The tab for taxpayers is likely to soar further for keeping Fannie and Freddie alive. “The Treasury has agreed to provide as much as $200 billion to keep Fannie Mae running, and it has pledged the same amount to its main rival, Freddie Mac,” the newspaper writes.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603852.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124960826802413197.html

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Retailers Brace for Weak School Shopping

For retailers, July was a brutal month. And the outlook appears fairly grim for the back-to-school season, too, the second biggest period for retailers after Christmas. Citing a survey of 30 major retailers by Thomson Reuters that says same-store sales fell 5.1 percent, the WSJ found casualties throughout the industry from youth-oriented clothing chains like Aeropostale and Abercrombie & Fitch to department stores J.C. Penney and Target. “A large chunk of the American population has decided not to do any discretionary spending. They’re going to the grocery stores and doing very little else,”  Stephen J. Hoch, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told the newspaper. Analysts are blaming a host of factors for the gloomy July retail sales report, including “the postponement of state tax holidays from July to August and the federal ‘cash for clunkers’ program,” the NYT reports.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124955617902810723.html (subscriber content preview)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/business/economy/07shop.html

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Asian stocks lower on US jobless concern

Another potentially worrying report due out today is the Labor Department’s latest unemployment figures. Already, the markets are bracing for the worst. According to the Associated Press, Asian markets fell broadly as fears grew of a U.S. employment report that might show worse-than-forecast July job losses. Back home, there is slightly more optimism on the eve of the report. There’s a glimmer of hope that the $787 billion stimulus plan passed in the spring “may blunt the downturn in limited but discernible ways,” the NYT reports. Analysts expect the jobless numbers to tick upward from the June reading of 9.5 percent out of work—yes, even that would be seen as a small victory. “While there is a consensus that a fragile recovery is in the offing, the outlook remains murky. Still, analysts say the impact of the stimulus, while small, is discernible,” the newspaper writes.

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Full article: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3kgMAkbLwyfxBdjzw8Pc4KZ7DhQD99TR2HG1

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/business/economy/07stimulus.html

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Iraqis Freed by U.S. Face Few Jobs and Little Hope

The NYT fronts a look at how the approximately 90,000 Iraqis who have been released from American detention centers over the past six years often have difficulties adjusting to life after prison. They often go back to families who are facing financial difficulties and find it nearly impossible to find jobs. Old friends and acquaintances often shun them out of fear that they could be seen associating with someone who was behind bars. This makes them particularly attractive to insurgents. “It’s just like Jean Valjean,” said a former prisoner who read Les Misérables during his 15-month detention. “An innocent guy is thrown in prison, he loses his job, his family goes hungry and they refuse him a job when he gets out. Of course he’s going to go the wrong way.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/world/middleeast/07detainees.html

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Nicotine-Loving Iraqis Deride Smoking-Ban Plan

Meanwhile, the talk of the town in Baghdad is a bill presented to the Iraqi parliament by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Cabinet that would ban smoking in public places, report the WP and NYT. It would be one of the first laws of its kind in the Middle East, a region where smoking is particularly cheap and popular. Many Iraqis say it’s ridiculous that the government is even worrying about this. “The government has a wild imagination,” one Sunni lawmaker said, “and it is trying to delude the world into thinking that there are no problems left in the country other than smoking.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080600908.html

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Republicans Propagating Falsehoods in Attacks on Health-Care Reform

The WP‘s Steven Pearlstein says that, in opposing the health care overhaul, Republican leaders have “become political terrorists, willing to say or do anything to prevent the country from reaching a consensus on one of its most serious domestic problems.” Of course, there’s plenty to criticize in the current proposals, but to say that any of the plans would lead to a government takeover of health care “is a flat-out lie whose only purpose is to scare the public and stop the political conversation.” And while criticizing the plans as too expensive, Republicans are guilty of hypocrisy by rejecting almost every idea that would actually make an attempt to keep costs under control.

The first paragraph reads:

As a columnist who regularly dishes out sharp criticism, I try not to question the motives of people with whom I don’t agree. Today, I’m going to step over that line.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/06/AR2009080603854.html

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John Hughes dies at 59; writer-director of ’80s teen films

The LAT fronts, and everyone covers, the death of John Hughes, the Hollywood director, producer, and screenwriter whose films about teenage angst in the 1980s helped define a generation. He was 59 and died of a heart attack. His biggest hits included Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. He changed the way teenagers were depicted in movies at a time when Hollywood studios began to realize the purchasing power of that age group. His biggest success in terms of box office was as writer and producer of Home Alone. In the early 1990s, he largely disappeared from the Hollywood scene, although he occasionally wrote under a pen name. “He’s our generation’s J.D. Salinger,” filmmaker Kevin Smith told the LAT. “He touched a generation and then the dude checked out.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-john-hughes7-2009aug07,0,6955065.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/movies/07hughesobit.html?ref=todayspaper

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Full article:http://www.slate.com/id/2224660/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/07/finding-more-cash-clunkers

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Today’s papers – August 6, 2009

U.S. to Reform Policy on Detention for Immigrants

The New York Times leads with word that the Obama administration will announce a new plan to reform the detention system for immigration violators. Detention centers have often been criticized for mistreating detainees and, most poignantly, failing to provide them with proper medical care while often allowing them to linger behind bars for months or years.

Overhauling the detention system for immigration violators could take years, but those in charge describe it as an ongoing effort to provide a more suitable environment for the noncriminals facing deportation. The Obama administration wants to consolidate the system that currently has contracts with more than 350 local jails and private prisons, possibly into government-run centers. Oversight will also be increased to try to avoid some of the bad press the system has received, and families will no longer be sent to a former state prison near Austin that has come under particular criticism.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/us/politics/06detain.html

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U.S. Considers Remaking Mortgage Giants

 The Washington Post leads with word that the White House is considering pressing the reset button on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to free the two mortgage giants of hundreds of billions of dollars in troubled loans. Nothing has been decided yet, but this is one of the proposals that the administration will be considering as it decides what to do with the companies that were effectively nationalized in September and have since been given $85 billion in direct federal aid.

The plan currently under consideration to remake Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sounds quite familiar. The troubled loans—or toxic assets—held by the mortgage giants would go into government-backed financial institutions, or “bad banks,” and allow Fannie and Freddie to get a fresh start. Then the government could decide to join the two firms into one government agency that perhaps would step away from the mortgage finance market. Or maybe they will maintain the same structure. Nothing has been decided yet, but it seems clear the Obama administration wants to make sure the private-public hybrid nature of the companies isn’t causing them to take on unnecessary risk that could, once again, threaten the financial system.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/05/AR2009080504063.html

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Drop in homeownership likely to continue

USA Today leads with a University of Utah analysis that predicts the percentage of households that own homes will drop to around 63.5 percent by 2020, a rate not seen since 1985. Home ownership reached a peak of almost 70 percent in 2004 and 2005, but has since dropped to 67.4 percent.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-05-rental_N.htm

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AIG Breakup Is Fee Bonanza

Dismantling  may produce a “fee bonanza” on Wall Street, says this morning’s Wall Street Journal. According to the paper’s own analysis, bankers and lawyers involved in breaking up the insurer could collect nearly $1 billion in fees. The government, which ended up with an 80 percent ownership stake in AIG, has a “multiyear plan” to recover the more than $100 billion in taxpayer funds it used for the bailout. This will require hiring firms to handle the public offerings and sales of various units of AIG as well as managing some of its toxic assets. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase are all poised to benefit, as they’ve already been tasked to help.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124951576916509361.html (subscriber content preview)

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Despite Bailouts, Business as Usual at Goldman

The New York Times leads its business coverage today with a piece on Goldman Sachs. The article says that there are two different tales of how the bank weathered the downturn: what chief executive Lloyd Blankfein says in private and public. While he has announced that Goldman was never in need of a rescue, the article says that he told several friends and colleagues that it was thanks to the government bailout that the firm came out OK. As it turns out, its recent performance has been quite impressive.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/business/06goldman.html

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The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with, and the Los Angeles Times devotes its top nonlocal spot to, the two American journalists who returned to California yesterday after being detained in North Korea since March.

Journalists Reunite With Families in U.S.

Now that Euna Lee and Laura Ling are back on American soil, it’s becoming more evident that there’s still a lot that isn’t known about the circumstances surrounding their arrest. Did they actually cross the border into North Korea? Did they realize how dangerous it was? How did the cameraman escape? But everyone made clear that yesterday was not the time for those types of questions as the two journalists were just happy to be home after 140 days in captivity. The welcome-home scene was emotional, and even though Ling did say a few words of thanks, the families made it clear the two journalists aren’t ready to talk about their ordeal quite yet.

During her public statement in the airport hangar, Ling described how surprised she was to see the former president in North Korea. “We were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was coming to an end.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124947710426007663.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/05/AR2009080501183.html

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North Korea effort renews key U.S. political relationships

The LAT focuses its front-page piece on how former President Bill Clinton’s image has been reinvigorated as a result of the successful diplomatic mission.

That was undoubtedly the high point for Clinton, a former member of his administration tells the LAT. “Talk about affirmation,” the former administration official said. “This is the love he needs.” Clinton barely spent 24 hours in North Korea, but “it redefined—and in some cases, reinvigorated—several relationships at the heart of American politics,” notes the LAT. While this was clearly a victory for the Obama administration, it also helped Clinton rehabilitate his image, which had been badly damaged during last year’s bruising primary battle. He may not have had to do much in Pyongyang beyond sticking to the script, but by all accounts his first real job in the Obama administration was a huge success.

At the same time, Clinton’s mission to North Korea was also a stark reminder of the former president’s ability to overshadow his wife, as well as his vast rolodex of financial and political contacts, which have raised uncomfortable ethical questions in the past. As the Post details in a front-page piece, Clinton asked wealthy business contacts to help carry out the mission and got wealthy Hollywood producer Steve Bing to foot the bill for the plane that took him and his entourage to North Korea.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-clintons6-2009aug06,0,543947.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/05/AR2009080504021.html

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Clinton and Gore, Together Again

The WSJ and NYT both devote separate stories to looking at how Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore were reunited yesterday. The two men had a bitter falling out after serving together for eight years, but they hugged yesterday after Clinton got off the plane. Both papers describe the encounter in detail, but the WSJ certainly takes the cake by describing it so meticulously that it almost sounds sexual. It first looked like they were “destined for a routine handshake” and Gore apparently hesitated at first when Clinton pulled him “into a bear hug.” The embrace lasted a full five seconds, and included six pats on the back—two from Gore and four from Clinton—as well as “two right-handed strokes,” courtesy of the former president.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/us/politics/06gore.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124951806279909533.html

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Korea experts dispute effects of release

The administration continued to emphasize that Clinton’s trip was a private one and didn’t change anything about U.S. policy toward North Korea. But others aren’t so sure. USAT talks to several analysts who think this could mark the beginning of a better relationship between the two countries. “It’s almost like when China invited our ping-pong team to Beijing,” said one. In a front-page piece, the NYT takes a look at how administration officials are trying to determine whether Clinton’s trip has opened up new opportunities for nuclear talks. And despite the this-changes-nothing insistence, analysts say North Korea is clearly going to expect at least some form of payback for this, and the United States response to that expectation could set the tone for future relations between the two countries.

The WSJ has the most details about what was discussed in Clinton’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and, as expected, it seems clear that the fate of the journalists wasn’t the only topic. Clinton apparently talked to Kim about ending his nuclear program and said he could reap ample rewards if he released South Korean and Japanese nationals who have been kidnapped. Many think Kim saw the meeting with Clinton as the first step into direct negotiations with the United States. But one South Korean official takes it even further and says Kim’s ultimate goal is to have some sort of summit with Obama.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-08-05-korea_N.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/world/asia/06kim.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124952003814809689.html

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Senators Closer To Health Package

The WP fronts word that the bipartisan group of senators from the finance committee is making progress on health care negotiations. The senators will brief Obama on the progress of their talks. So far, the bill that would emerge from these discussions would come under $1 trillion, nix the government insurance option, tax generous health are benefits, and expand Medicaid, among other measures. It’s still not clear whether they’ll be able to reach a deal by the Sept. 15 deadline that the committee’s chairman has set. But even if they don’t, the Post says Democrats are already analyzing the compromises that have been made to see how they can unite members of their party behind certain measures that could win a few Republican votes.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/05/AR2009080503996.html

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White House Affirms Deal on Drug Cost

The NYT takes a look at how it became crystal clear yesterday that the White House made a deal with the drug industry even as it has been insisting that lawmakers were writing legislation from scratch. After House lawmakers suggested they could extract more cost savings from drug companies, the administration was forced to come out and say that it had previously agreed it wouldn’t ask the industry for more than $80 billion in savings in exchange for their support. It was an embarrassing admission that angered some Democratic lawmakers, particularly considering it came from an administration that has made a big deal of shunning lobbyists. But if the White House had failed to acknowledge the deal, it could have angered a powerful ally that is spending millions on an advertising campaign to support reforming the system.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/health/policy/06insure.html

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With Paula Abdul, it was loopiness in live action

Paula Abdul’s decision to leave American Idol leads the LAT‘s Mary McNamara to ask, “What is a reliable train wreck actually worth?” Abdul first joined the show because of her singing career, “but what she actually brought to the show was, well, insanity.” She tried to portray herself as the nice one, “but the role that worked best for her was the ditsy, possibly drunken sidekick.” American Idol has been the vanguard in reality programming, and “Paula provided the first taste of what the citizenry now gorges itself on: live-action breakdowns.” But apparently it was decided that her “reliable unreliability” wasn’t worth “as much as the milquetoast stoicism of Ryan Seacrest.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-abdul-notebook6-2009aug06,0,6504365.story

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224405/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/06/get-ready-aig-fee-bonanza

Read Full Post »

Today’s papers – August 5, 2009

North Korea Frees Americans

All the papers give top billing to North Korea pardoning the two detained American journalists after former President Bill Clinton met with dictator Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang. Euna Lee and Laura Ling of Current TV, who had been sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, left North Korea this morning with Clinton on a private jet.

USA Today and the Wall Street Journal report that the two journalists were told in July that they would be set free if Clinton visited North Korea. The journalists told their families, who then got in touch with the administration.

The New York Times says it was Clinton’s vice president, Al Gore, co-founder of Current TV, who asked the former president to take the trip 10 days ago. The Washington Post says the administration’s first choice for the trip was Gore, but North Korea rejected that suggestion.

Although White House officials took pains to emphasize that Clinton traveled to North Korea as a private citizen, everyone notes that the administration did make sure that the journalists would be released if the former president made the trip.

 The Los Angeles Times declares that the pardon “may have reopened the channels of communication between the Obama administration and the secretive regime.” North Korean state media reported that Clinton “expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il for the hostile acts committed by the two American journalists” and also conveyed a message from President Obama about the need to improve relations between the two countries. Administration officials denied that Clinton apologized and insisted he didn’t relay a message from Obama.

The NYT reports that while Obama didn’t talk directly to Clinton before the North Korea trip, Gen. James Jones, his national security adviser, “contacted the former president to sound him out.” The WP notes that while there were no government officials traveling with Clinton, “the nature of the delegation gave the mission a quasi-official status.” John Podesta, Clinton’s White House chief of staff who was head of Obama’s transition team, was on the plane, as was David Straub, who used to head the Korea desk at the State Department. North Korea pumped the visit for all it was worth, portraying the encounter in state media as a sign of respect for Kim, who hosted a two-hour banquet in Clinton’s honor and met with the former president for an hour and 15 minutes.

Although officials said the administration was clear with North Korea that Clinton would only discuss the journalists, no one believes wider issues weren’t raised. “It would be someplace between surprising and shocking if there wasn’t some substantive discussion between” the two men, one expert tells the NYT. Indeed, the LAT notes that in South Korea, analysts were hopeful that this could mark the first step in improved relations between the two countries. “If it was simply a matter of freeing two journalists, it would not have been successful,” one analyst said. “Both countries have agreed that this visit would be a place to discuss big changes in relations and to solve nuclear issues.”

In a separate front-page piece that describes how White House officials had been negotiating with North Korea for months, the LAT says many in the administration believed that if they gave the isolationist regime a way to release the journalists without looking weak it could mark the opening salvo in resuming talks about the country’s nuclear program. The WP points out that a side benefit of the meeting is that it gave the United States a first-hand look at Kim, who is thought to have suffered a stroke last year. But the WSJ notes that Kim’s apparent eagerness to meet face-to-face with Clinton suggests he may be in better health than many believed.

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Full article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124938154079404323.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/asia/05korea.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-clinton-korea5-2009aug05,0,7555243.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080400684.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-tictoc5-2009aug05,0,2496220.story

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Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy

The NYT fronts new court documents that shine a light on the influence of the pharmaceutical industry on medical literature. Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company that sold nearly $2 billion of its hormone drugs in 2001, paid ghostwriters to produce 26 scientific papers that advocated the use of hormone replacement therapy in women. The articles were published in medical journals between 1998 and 2005 and all made a point of emphasizing benefits of taking hormones. The articles, which were signed by top physicians who often did little or no actual writing, failed to reveal Wyeth’s involvement in the process. Of course, the question now is how common is this practice. “It’s almost like steroids and baseball,” said a doctor who has conducted research on ghostwriting. “You don’t know who was using and who wasn’t; you don’t know which articles are tainted and which aren’t.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/research/05ghost.html

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Groups Take Health-Reform Debate to Airwaves

The WP fronts a look at how $52 million has been spent on advertising campaigns related to the debate over health care reform this year. And that number is set to grow into what some say could end up being the biggest advertising campaign related to a piece of legislation. Until now groups have mostly focused on national cable news and the Washington market, but as lawmakers head home for August recess, “advertising money will follow them,” as the Post puts it. Much of the advertising so far has been by groups broadly in favor of reform that don’t mention a specific plan. But that’s likely to change as plans take shape.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080401447.html

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As Congress Goes on Break, Health Lobbying Heats Up

Along with the advertising, the massive lobbying campaign will also be following lawmakers, notes the WSJ. The health care legislation would affect so many people that all types of groups are lobbying for their interests. And they see the next few weeks as a key time to get their views heard.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124941851099605703.html

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For Health Insurers’ Lobbyist, Good Will Is Tested

The NYT fronts a look at the challenges the chief lobbyist for the insurance industry, Karen Ignagni, is facing as she tries to keep her coalition together at a time when many in Washington have seized on insurers as the prime villains. Ignagni, who earned $1.6 million in 2007, claims to be surprised by the turn of events, particularly considering she has made a point of telling Obama the industry is ready to accept reform. Ignagni got the industry’s big players to agree on concessions in the hope that she could work from the inside to prevent too much government interference. But some insurers might decide to walk away if they don’t think there’s anything to gain. That means the industry could end up “being thrust in the same role it played 15 years ago when it helped derail reform,” notes the paper.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/health/policy/05insure.html

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Clunkers to jump-start the economy?

Could the mighty “clunker” turn around the U.S. economy and drive a second-half recovery? A growing number of economists think so. The Wall Street Journal leads off its business coverage this morning on an optimistic note, reporting that economists are already reworking their GDP forecasts to include last week’s clunkers-led surge in car sales. “Revisions began after last week’s gross-domestic-product report, showing the economy contracted at a better-than-expected 1%,” the newspaper writes. “This week, the upward revisions have continued on hopes the government’s auto stimulus program would propel consumer spending in coming months and force auto makers to make more new cars than previously planned.” Economists employed at UBS AG, Wells Fargo and T. Rowe Price Group Inc. have all recalibrated their figures in recent days, now predicting third quarter GDP growth ranging between 2.5 percent and 3 percent. Alas, the renewed consumer spending figures may not have much of an impact on the jobs market. “[T]he anticipated GDP growth won’t be enough to substantially bring down the unemployment rate,” the WSJ warns.

There is more optimism this morning that the Senate will in fact extend the clunker trade-in program by injecting another $2 billion into it through a vote to be held some time this week, just as the House voted to do last week. “That would continue the program at least through Labor Day.” The Detroit News reports, citing Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. But to do so, the New York Times points out, the Senate will have to shift into overdrive to extend the clunkers program. “The Senate is scheduled to go home on Friday and simply getting the bill to the floor before then requires a consensus among the senators. If the bill were amended, it would effectively kill the program until Labor Day, since the House has already begun its August recess and would be unlikely to return to approve the Senate version,” the newspaper writes. Judging by all the enthusiasm for extending the plan voiced by White House officials, Senate Democratic leaders, and newspaper editorials (like one for the Wilmington News Journal in Ohio that argues the clunkers program is a much needed “shot in the arm” for automakers and American consumers), the vote should zip through the Senate. Oh, but there’s another obstacle looming, the WSJ reports: Auto dealers are running out of cars to meet the clunkers trade-in demand. “If Congress moves ahead and allocates more money for the trade-in plan, light inventories could hinder sales and damp the program’s impact until auto makers are able to rush vehicles to dealerships,” the newspaper writes.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124938746829804523.html (subscriber content preview)

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090805/AUTO01/908050379/1148/New-clunker-funding-gains-in-Senate

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/business/05clunker.html

http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=42&SubSectionID=201&ArticleID=178728

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124943011168206233.html (subscriber content preview)

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S.E.C. Starts Crackdown on ‘Flash’ Trading

No sooner did “flash trading” become a media sensation than the Securities & Exchange Commission made a move to shut it down. Yesterday, SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro announced she “would push to eliminate a controversial high-frequency trading technique known as “flash orders,” which allow traders to peek at other investors’ orders before they are sent to the wider marketplace,” the NYT writes. Haven’t got a clue what we’re talking about? Here’s a handy explainer on how some of the big banks are reaping in billions thanks to supercomputing systems that are “so fast they can outsmart or outrun other investors, humans and computers alike.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/business/05flash.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/business/24trading.html

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Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

The NYT and WSJ go inside with news that two Russian attack submarines were detected patrolling the waters off the East Coast recently. One has come as close as 200 miles off the coast of the United States. The Pentagon said it doesn’t consider the submarines threatening, but the discovery is certainly surprising, considering that the Russian navy is a shadow of its former self and hasn’t conducted this type of mission for years.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/05patrol.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124943689273806633.html

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Symbol of Unhealed Congo: Male Rape Victims

The NYT fronts a dispatch from Congo, where there has been a sharp increase in the number of men who have been raped in the last few months. Joint Congo-Rwanda military operations against rebels that started at the beginning of the year and were supposed to bring a semblance of normality to the area, which has been mired in conflict for more than a decade, instead have given rise to horrifying revenge attacks against civilians. Aid organizations don’t quite know how to explain the increase in male rape, except to say it’s “yet another way for armed groups to humiliate and demoralize Congolese communities into submission.” Of course, the number of men raped is small when compared to the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered the fate. But aid workers say it’s harder for men to recover because, assuming they do come forward in the first place, they’re often ridiculed and ostracized in their villages and often have no one to turn to for support.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/africa/05congo.html

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In the salary tug of war between studios and talent, it’s no contest

The LAT‘s Patrick Goldstein takes a look at how top actors and filmmakers aren’t getting the same kind of money they used to from studios. Actors, writers, and filmmakers once had set quotes that went up with every hit and studios pretty much always met without asking too many questions. But that’s yesterday. Today, for “basically everyone except Will Smith, salary quotes have evaporated” along with the cherished “first-dollar gross deals,” which gave top talent a slice of revenue from a movie. Now it’s all about “cash break zero,” meaning they only get a share of the profits after all costs have been paid. Hollywood players are being forced to adapt to this new system, where the studios have all the power, and, suddenly, most stars aren’t able to get whatever they want.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-bigpicture5-2009aug05,0,1930625.story

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Paula Abdul is leaving ‘American Idol’

The LAT and WP report word that Paula Abdul announced on Twitter that she’ll be leaving American Idol. Abdul had been in contract negotiations to increase her salary, which was reportedly between $2 million and $4 million a year.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-paula-abdul5-2009aug05,0,6951561.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080402912.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224329/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/05/clunkers-jump-start-economy

Read Full Post »

Today’s papers – August 4, 2009

Bill Clinton visits North Korea in bid to free journalists

The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with the late-breaking news that former President Bill Clinton landed in North Korea this morning in an unannounced trip to seek the release of the two American journalists arrested on the border with China in March. It marks Clinton’s first diplomatic mission abroad for the Obama administration and concerns an issue that his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has been following closely.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee of Current TV were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in a North Korea prison camp. The White House has been trying to obtain their release and has apparently been considering for weeks whether to send a special envoy to the area. Clinton is now the highest-profile U.S. official to visit North Korea since Madeleine Albright, his secretary of state, went to the country in 2000. And his visit is seen as especially significant because North Korean leaders have particular respect for the fromer president and his stature as a world statesman. But Clinton’s visit is also a little awkward, considering that his wife and North Korean officials recently engaged in “a round of unusual name calling,” as the LAT puts it.

The WSJ talks to a “senior U.S. official” who says that despite the persistent rumors about North Korean leader Kim Jong-il’s health, the White House doesn’t think he’s in such bad shape. The administration believes that Kim is still running the country. “We believe he’s going to be around for a while,” the official said.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-clinton-korea4-2009aug04,0,6768809.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/03/AR2009080302868.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/world/asia/04korea.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-clinton-korea4-2009aug04,0,6768809.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124935224221803215.html

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More seek concealed weapons permits

USA Today leads with a look at how several states and counties are reporting a large increase in the applications for concealed weapons permits since the November election. Many apparently want to pack heat because they’re worried of an increase in crime caused by the recession as well as fearful that President Obama will push for tougher gun regulations.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-03-guns_N.htm

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Spurring Sales, Car Rebate Plan Is Left Up in Air

The New York Times leads with the uncertain future of the “cash for clunkers” program as senators debate whether they’re going to add $2 billion to the program before they go on recess Friday. New sales figures show that auto sales got a huge sales boost in July and reached their highest levels of the year.

The NYT points out that in the final week of July, “cars and trucks were rolling off dealers’ lots at almost the same rate they had before the recession began.” Still, dealers have stopped promising the $3,500 to $4,500 rebate until they’re sure that the program will be continuing. In addition to more sales, the Transportation Department also said the average gas mileage of the vehicles people bought were higher than what was required to qualify for the rebate.

The LAT notes that not everyone is convinced the program is directly responsible for the huge sales increase. The White House is pressuring senators to approve the extension of the program, but some leading Republicans are resisting. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell used the opportunity to say that the fact that the administration miscalculated how popular the program would be is a reason why lawmakers need move slowly on health care reform.

Automakers and car dealers aren’t the only ones benefitting from the cash-for-clunkers program, reports the WSJ. Chemical suppliers were surprised when they suddenly started receiving lots of orders for sodium silicate, a compound commonly used as a bug repellent or to seal concrete. Turns out, the government failed to warn them that it had selected sodium silicate as the designated method to kill the “clunkers” that are turned in for “cash.” All the dealers have to use the solution, often referred to as “liquid glass,” so the old cars won’t return to the road. Mechanics are fighting over who gets to do the honors of destroying a car, while chemical suppliers are thanking their lucky stars. One dealer, who usually sold about 150 gallons of the product a year, moved 4,600 gallons of it last week.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/business/04clunkers.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-auto-sales4-2009aug04,0,436914.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124934376942503053.html

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Strategy On Flu Under Revision

The Washington Post leads with word the administration is working on new federal guidelines that would recommend schools close because of the H1N1 virus only under “extenuating circumstances,” such as if many students have underlying medical conditions or there are large numbers of people infected. This is a change from the spring, when federal officials recommended that schools close at the first sign of the virus. “The framework is to try to keep schools open to the extent possible,” one official said. Swine flu infections are expected to surge when the school year begins.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/03/AR2009080303037.html

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Health Plan Opponents Make Voices Heard

The NYT goes inside with a look at how coalitions of conservative voters and advocacy groups have a head start in getting their voices heard against health care reform at Democratic events. For example, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, held “neighborhood office hours” but was forced to flee when confronted with a “boisterous crowd of about 150″ who chanted “Just say no!” while carrying signs that made reference to “Socialized Health Care.” The protesters, put together by a man who has organized antitax “tea party” demonstrations, proceeded to try to block his car when he was attempting to leave. “This is not a grass-roots effort,” Doggett said. “This is a very coordinated effort where the local Republican Party, the local conservative meet-up groups sent people to my event.” This is likely to continue this month as lawmakers go back home for recess and hold town-hall style meetings to push for health care overhaul.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/health/policy/04townhalls.html

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Off the Bench, Souter Leaves Farmhouse Behind

The NYT reports the shocking news that Justice David Souter has decided his life needed an upgrade now that he’s a civilian again. Everyone expected Souter to go to his famous farmhouse in Weare, N.H., that has peeling paint and no phone lines. But he decided to buy a $500,000 3,448-square-foot home instead. His new home is a mere eight miles from the old farmhouse, but it has phone lines and even a home gym. But, don’t worry, Souter didn’t move because he suddenly appreciates fine living. He told a neighbor that the old farmhouse “wasn’t structurally sound enough to hold the thousands of books that make up his library,” according to the Concord Monitor.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/us/04souter.html

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090801/FRONTPAGE/908010365

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Geithner Vents at Regulators as Overhaul Stumbles

The WSJ hears word that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner disparaged top U.S. regulators last Friday “in an expletive-laced critique” over their continued objections to the administration’s efforts to overhaul the financial regulation system. Many regulators have come out against the changes, mostly due to typical Washington turf wars. Geithner apparently told them that “enough is enough,” noting that the regulators had been given time to talk about their concerns but now it’s time to shut up and let the White House and Congress make policy. The paper says that besides Geithner’s “repeated use of obscenities,” the meeting was also unusual because he took an aggressive stance with officials from regulatory agencies that are usually considered independent from the administration.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124934399007303077.html

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Giant Particle Collider Struggles

The NYT takes a look at how the much-talked-about Large Hadron Collider, the giant particle accelerator outside Geneva that was switched on last year amid hyped concerns that it could create a black hole, has been a big disappointment as it “has to yet collide any particles at all.” After working on it for 15 years and spending $9 billion on the project, the machine has been plagued with problems, and now scientists say it could take years before it runs at full strength, assuming it ever does. Some physicists are even jumping ship to work “at a smaller, rival machine across the ocean,” reports the paper.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/science/earth/04collide.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/science/11collider.html

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When the Clunker Is Greener

In the WP‘s op-ed page, Gwen Ottinger writes that while trading in clunkers might help the economy, the truth is that, like other programs to encourage green consumption, it doesn’t really help the environment. Replacing a car creates real environmental costs because it takes energy and resources to build new things and dispose of old ones, an inconvenient set of facts that are often ignored. Encouraging energy-efficient consumption can also result in greater energy use “by confusing efficiency with consumption.” For example, people might buy Energy Star refrigerators, when the truth is that if consumers simply bought a smaller model they’d likely save even more energy.

The full article reads:

When the Clunker Is Greener

Want to be green? Consider keeping your “clunker.”

The wildly popular “Cash for Clunkers” program is one of a number of policies funded by this year’s stimulus package that encourage consumers to make major purchases in the name of the environment. The program offers incentives for car owners to trade in automobiles getting fewer than 18 miles per gallon for more fuel-efficient vehicles. State-run rebate programs for Energy Star appliances operate similarly, encouraging consumers to replace their washers, dryers and refrigerators with new models that meet efficiency standards set by government agencies. These programs presumably benefit the economy and the environment simultaneously: Increased consumer spending helps manufacturers and retailers, while increases in fuel efficiency reduce the amount of fossil fuels consumed and greenhouse gases generated.

But these consumption-promoting policies are not necessarily a boon to the environment.

First, even when new cars and appliances are more efficient than the ones they replace, the act of replacing them entails environmental costs not accounted for in the stimulus programs. Building a new car, washing machine or refrigerator takes energy and resources: The manufacture of steel, aluminum and plastics are energy-intensive processes, and some of the materials used in durable goods, especially plastics, use non-renewable fossil fuels as feedstocks as well as energy sources. Disposing of old products, a step required by most incentive and rebate programs, also has environmental costs: It takes additional energy to shred and recycle metals; plastic components often cannot be recycled and end up as landfill cover; and the engine fluids, refrigerants and other chemicals essential to operating products end up as hazardous wastes.

Policies that encourage purchases of energy-efficient products may also increase, rather than decrease, energy use by confusing efficiency with consumption. For example, Energy Star refrigerators, which now qualify for rebates in many states, are certified to be 10 to 20 percent more efficient than “standard” models. Yet the Energy Star rating is awarded overwhelmingly to refrigerators far larger than would have been the norm two decades ago, and smaller models of refrigerator, which use less energy simply because they have a smaller volume of air to cool, were not even included in the Energy Star program until 2002. Consumers who wish to benefit from environmentally friendly stimulus money, then, are pushed toward purchasing “efficient” but relatively large models rather than being encouraged to opt for the smallest refrigerator, with the smallest energy demands, that meets their needs.

Beyond these concrete environmental drawbacks, product-replacement policies also send a message that old things are dirty and inefficient, while new ones are necessarily green and efficient. Under the Cash for Clunkers program, for example, old cars must be traded in for new ones. Yet plenty of used cars exceed the required 22 mpg: The Toyota Prius hybrid, on the market since 2001, gets upward of 40 mpg, and even a 15-year-old Honda Civic gets 28. By assuming that only new products can be environmentally friendly, these policies lead us to discount the environmental gains that could be made through well-established and low-tech means, such as smaller refrigerators. They also reinforce the idea that all products, even “durable goods,” quickly become obsolete — a notion that leads to overwhelming amounts of environment-despoiling waste.

Cash for Clunkers and related incentive programs have stimulated consumer spending and might well be deemed successful economic policies. They have certainly also pushed some consumers toward more energy-efficient products than they might otherwise have bought. But that in itself does not make them successful environmental policies. The environmental issues surrounding durable goods are too complex to be reduced to consumer-level measures of environmental efficiency. Nor can being environmentally conscious be conflated with buying the “best” new product. Conscientious consumption may mean repairing a product rather than replacing it to save it from the landfill, or trading in a gas-guzzler for a smaller used car.

If policymakers sincerely want to use stimulus money to further environmental goals, they need to look past narrow definitions of efficiency, incorporate environmental analyses of product lifecycles from manufacturing through disposal, and refuse to broadly equate “old” with “obsolete.” Only then can they hope to craft policies that will serve both the economy and the environment.

The writer is a program researcher in environmental history and policy at the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Center for Contemporary History and Policy in Philadelphia.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/03/AR2009080302220.html

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Michael Jackson’s mother given custody of children

The papers report that Michael Jackson’s mother was awarded permanent custody of the singer’s three children yesterday. The judge also approved a monthly allowance of an undisclosed amount for Jackson’s mother and the children. The control of Jackson’s estate is still an open issue. Two men close to Jackson were named in the will, but it seems the Jackson family might consider contesting it, on the grounds that they took advantage of Jackson’s addictions.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-jackson4-2009aug04,0,1495792.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/us/04jackson.html

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After 53 Hot Dogs, Saying No Thanks to the Free Pretzels

The NYT‘s Frequent Flier column talks to Timothy Janus, a 32-year-old former day trader who is now a regular participant in eating contests and holds seven world records involving tamales, grits, and cannoli, among others. When flying home after a competition, Janus often feels sorry for the people sitting next to him. “I can affect the environment around me in a very unfortunate way,” Janus says.”Without getting too specific, I think it’s enough to say that when you’ve eaten 53 hot dogs, you smell as if you’ve eaten 53 hot dogs, no matter how hard you try to get rid of the stench.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/business/04flier.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224238/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/04/clunkers-jump-start-auto-sales

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Today’s papers – August 3, 2009

New Detainee Site In U.S. Considered

The Washington Post leads with word that the White House is considering transferring some Guantanamo detainees to a maximum-security prison in the United States that would also have courtrooms for civilian and military trials. Officials are looking at a military prison in Kansas and a maximum-security prison in Michigan that will be shut down soon as possible spots for the new detention facility.

Word of the possibility of a new detention facility, to be set up inside the United States to house Guantanamo detainees, was first reported by the Associated Press. The Post emphasizes that while the administration is looking at the idea, nothing is set in stone yet. Officials say that by creating one dedicated facility, they could avoid sprinkling Guantanamo detainees all over the country. The hybrid facility, which would be jointly run by the departments of Defense, Justice, and Homeland Security, could also have a low-security section to house detainees who have been cleared for release but have nowhere to go.

Any talk of transferring detainees to the United States has been controversial, and this isn’t likely to be any different. But officials hope that by placing all the detainees in one facility, they can minimize opposition and perhaps even get some political backing, which would appear to be the case with the Michigan option. The LAT hears word that the idea of creating a facility that would contain a courtroom and a prison “was floated in May by Michigan Republicans, including former Gov. John Engler, suggesting a site in their state.” The LAT also says that while the Pentagon has also considered detention facilities at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.; Camp Pendleton; and the naval brig in Charleston, S.C., none are considered “ideal options,” as one official put it. The American Civil Liberties Union said it would be against the creation of this new facility, particularly if it would be designed to hold some detainees indefinitely without trial.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202183.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo3-2009aug03,0,3474712.story

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Troop Deaths Rise in Afghanistan

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the nine foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan over the weekend. The nine deaths, including six Americans, in the first two days of August followed the deadliest month for the coalition since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124919986378699441.html

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Stimulus cash lifts states, localities

USA Today leads with new data that show how federal stimulus money has helped state and local governments make up for the sharp decrease in tax collections. The injection of taxpayer money help increase state and local government expenditures 4.8 percent in the second quarter after six months of spending declines. Money from the federal government now surpasses taxes as the top source of revenue for state and local governments.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-08-02-stimulus_N.htm

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Two Sides Take Health Care Debate Outside Washington

The New York Times leads with a look at how Republicans and Democrats are planning to take the fight for and against health care reform across the country this month. Democrats will begin an ad campaign to accompany town-hall-style meetings, featuring lawmakers and the president, to convince the public about the urgency of what they’re now calling health-insurance reform. For their part, Republicans are also setting up an advertising campaign as well as meetings to convince Americans that the plan Democrats want to pursue would cost too much and fail to improve care. They’ll get some help from the insurance industry, which is planning to confront Democrats at public forums.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/health/policy/03healthcare.html

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Gay, lesbian priests among bishop nominees by L.A. Episcopal diocese

 The Los Angeles Times leads with news that Episcopal Church leaders in Los Angeles nominated two openly gay priests as bishops. The move came a day after the Diocese of Minnesota announced that one of its three candidates for bishop is a lesbian. The church lifted a de facto ban on gay bishops mere weeks ago, and these nominations are sure to spark outrage among conservative members of the Episcopal Church as well as within the Anglican Communion around the world.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-episcopal3-2009aug03,0,116157.story

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Marines fighting Taliban strive to win Afghan locals’ trust

USAT fronts a dispatch from Afghanistan’s Helmand Province that looks into the way Marines are trying to win the trust of the local population by setting up small patrol bases in areas that had long been neglected by coalition forces. The paper points out that dangerous spots can be difficult to identify because “they often co-exist with relatively peaceful areas.” A counterinsurgency expert explains that “every village has its own microclimate.”

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-08-02-afghanistan_N.htm

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Venezuela Still Aids Colombia Rebels, New Material Shows

The NYT fronts word that Venezuelan officials are still assisting members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, despite repeated denials. According to “computer material” captured from Colombia’s largest rebel group, being analyzed by Western intelligence agencies, Venezuelan officials have assisted guerrillas as recently as several weeks ago. The high-ranking intelligence and military officials helped the FARC arrange weapons deals in Venezuela while also providing them with identity cards so they could travel freely within Venezuela. The fresh allegations of cooperation could lead to problems for Obama, who has been trying to improve relations with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/world/americas/03venez.html

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U.S. identifies remains of pilot missing in Persian Gulf War

The LAT and WP front, and everyone covers, news that Marines in western Iraq have recovered the remains of a Navy pilot shot down at the beginning of the Persian Gulf War. When Navy Capt. Michael Scott Spicher’s plane was shot down on Jan. 17, 1991, he was described as the first U.S. fatality of the war; but the fact that his body was never found gave rise to a number of rumors and conspiracy theories that he’d been captured. But now it seems Bedouin tribesmen had buried Speicher’s remains. The Post talks to a 53-year-old tribal leader who claims Iraqi army officers asked for guidance about whether they could bury the pilot the same way as a Muslim. “I told them that regardless of religion, any person should be properly buried,” he said.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-gulf-war-pilot3-2009aug03,0,5653528.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080200749.html

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Trying to Heal, Pakistan Valley Fears New Battles

The NYT fronts a dispatch from Mingora, a city in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, where signs abound that the conflict with the Taliban is far from over. Thousands of refugees have returned, but many are convinced it’s only a matter of time before the Taliban will come back in full force, particularly since militant leaders are still on the loose. Schools may have officially reopened but the “many requirements to secure the peace … seem months away.” Foreign donors are beginning to develop plans to help with reconstruction, but whether these projects “can be done fast enough to satisfy the people who are most vulnerable to the lure of the militants is a pressing concern,” reports the paper.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/world/asia/03swat.html

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‘High Risk, High Reward’

The Post fronts the second excerpt from the Battle for America 2008 by Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, focusing on the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate. But the more interesting information is in a separate brief excerpt inside, where the authors write about how a front-page NYT article on Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers led McCain’s campaign to push up that line of attack, which was already in the works. The same day the article came out, an important McCain staffer sent an e-mail to Sarah Palin’s traveling party suggesting a line of attack that included a line about how Obama “is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists.” Palin took on the assignment enthusiastically. “Yes yes yes,” she wrote in an e-mail response. “Pls let me say this!!!” After she delivered the lines, she sent another e-mail: “It was awesome.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202046.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202044.html

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‘Best’ for Last?

In the WP‘s Style section, Ruth McCann tackles one of the most confounding issues of electronic life: What’s the best way to sign off in an e-mail? At the very least, TP is relieved he’s not the only one who is perplexed by the issue. Best? Cheers? Sincerely? XOXO? No one knows, really. But be very careful, because if you choose incorrectly people might think you’re being cold or even get offended.

The full article reads:

‘Best’ for Last?

Or Should You Sign That E-Mail With Sincerely? Regards? Cheers? or L-, L-, Love?

It feels like the 18th century all over again. All that daily correspondence, all those long hours spent hunched over a desk, composing some thoughtful missive about one’s dowry or the Jacobite rebellions. Signed, “Yr humble servant.”

Same deal now, basically, except (obviously) we’re not clutching quills; we’re writing a passel of e-mails and clicking send on ye olde BlackBerry until our fingers bleed. And something else isn’t quite the same: Unlike the heroes and heroines of epistolary novels, we aren’t blessed with time-tested formal guidance on the correct way to sign off.

“Best”?

“Cheers”?

“Sincerely”?

For Daniel Morrison, CEO of the D.C.-based international relief nonprofit 1Well, the wrong sign-off posed an impediment to deeper romance. “I sent an e-mail to a girlfriend, and she was very put off by me signing off with ‘Regards,’ saying that I sounded very ‘emotionally detached,’ ” Morrison says via e-mail. “We did break up shortly thereafter, so maybe she was right.”

Will Schwalbe, co-author with David Shipley of “Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better,” warns, “You can really do a lot of damage, even with a careless closing. And one of the terrifying things about e-mail is: You may never know.”

But you may well feel the chill.

“If you have been writing to someone ‘Best’ this and ‘Best’ that, and you get an e-mail that is a little colder, a little hostile, and they sign ‘Sincerely,’ that does mean things aren’t so good,” Schwalbe says. ” ‘Sincerely’ is the one that says, ‘There’s a problem here.’ “

And, one may well wonder, does “Cordially” ever mean anything other than “My hostility is only thinly veiled”?

And when, e-mail-wise, is it too early for “Love”? Does “Fondly” ever belong in business? Is “Cheers” too mock-Brit? Too alcoholic?

Will something that seems totally clever turn out to be totally obnoxious? Such as: “Off like a prom dress”?

So many questions, so few answers.

Craig Brownstein, vice president of media relations at the PR firm Edelman, is a devotee of “Best” and its variants. He says he started seeing “Best” in e-mails a few years ago and has since picked it up. But that professional close can quickly escalate into greater e-intimacies.

“Likely, if it’s someone I know, they get a whole mess of ‘Kisses’ and ‘Hugs,’ ” Brownstein sighs. “I’m the sweet flack on K Street.”

Brownstein asked his research team, StrategyOne, to catalogue the most common e-mail closing lines with an online poll. (The sample of about a thousand Internet users came from a nonrandom pool of respondents, so these numbers are rather more food for thought than hard data.)

Although “Best” seems ubiquitous in certain e-mail circles (Brownstein’s and Schwalbe’s, for instance), for some reason it was barely a blip on this survey’s radar.

Twenty-five percent of participants said they close their professional e-mails with “Sincerely,” while 20 percent use some variant of “Thank you,” and 17 percent use no closing at all. “Love” is the most common personal e-mail closing, followed by no closing.

This all might come as no great surprise to Peter Post, author of “Essential Manners for Men,” and one of manner maven Emily Post’s great-grandchildren. Post swears by “Sincerely,” which he describes as an all-purpose, “safe” e-mail close — the little black dress of sign-offs, if you will. “Yours truly” and “Regards” can also work, Post says, but “Best” is more dangerous territory.

“I think it’s more important with ‘Best’ that you know the person,” Post says. “I think it would be very awkward to do that to a person that you only knew very slightly or hadn’t yet met.”

But in their book, Schwalbe and Shipley recommend “Best” and “Best wishes” as “among the most common in e-mail — safe, all-purpose ways of bringing a note to an end.” Schwalbe himself often ratchets “Best” up to “Best!” — with the exclamation point added to warm up a medium in which everything can unfortunately sound a wee bit frigid and humorless.

Huffington Post editor in chief Arianna Huffington, likewise, says that one can do better than “Sincerely.”

“The problem,” Huffington says, “with traditional sign-offs like ‘Sincerely’ is not so much that they’re too cold as that they’re like vestiges of another medium: letters. . . . I’ve always used ‘Best’ or ‘All the best,’ because that’s always been standard for me, even for letters. And I never liked ‘Sincerely’ — I always found it very cold.”

Huffington — who signs off with “Fondly” when she’s writing to older correspondents and closes e-mails to her daughters with kisses and hugs — says that she drops the closing with the writers, editors and friends with whom she’s in near-constant communication, describing these sorts of e-mails as part of an ongoing conversation that encompasses everything from face-time to instant-message exchanges.

Musing on the ever-mutating art of the sign-off, Huffington says, “One thing that is kind of interesting is how more and more people are actually signing off by telling you where they are. . . . Like, ‘Sent while being yelled at by a flight attendant to turn off all electronic devices,’ or ‘Sent while killing time in traffic,’ which we should not be doing.”

Murky waters, these, unless you’re fortunate enough to be, say, in the military, where specific closings are standard fare. Matthew Cox, a senior staff writer at the Army Times, says that members of the Navy and the Air Force often close their e-mails with “V/R” (“Very respectfully”). For the Marines, it’s “S/F” (Semper Fi), while Army Rangers sign off with “RLTW” (“Rangers Lead the Way”).

Emily Gould, a New York writer, blogger, former Gawker staffer and not a member of the military, avoids both “Best” and “Sincerely.” She finds “Best” unsavory, as it frequently appears at the end of the rejection letters. And “Sincerely,” she says, “sounds grade school.” So she uses “Thanks” whenever possible.

“But the sad truth,” she says, “is that if I am on speaking terms with someone, or if I feel at all warmly towards them — basically if I have met them and don’t actively dislike them — I will often close with ‘XOXO.’ Like Gossip Girl. I’m ashamed to admit this.”

The easy-to-type-ness and communicating-of-warmth-ness of “XOXO” have proved handy, too, for MSNBC’s chief D.C. correspondent Norah O’Donnell. She writes in an e-mail that she started closing notes to friends with “XOXO” after she realized she’d been neglecting to sign off at all. (Her e-mail response, even to yours truly, ended with “XOXO.”)

Or, O’Donnell says, she’ll close with “Warmly,” since ” ‘Sincerely’ seems so formal and outdated.” Her husband, local restaurateur Geoff Tracy, invariably uses “Cheers!”

Gould and O’Donnell are not alone in their proclivity for “XOXO,” which also has a much-truncated alter ego, “x.” Schwalbe says that “x” began as a text-message closer (useful for its brevity) and has since migrated to e-mail.

Freelance writer Alyssa Shelasky says she usually signs off with “xxAlyssa” (the “x” isn’t necessarily indicative of blue material anymore).

Spike Mendelsohn, Shelasky’s boyfriend and owner of Good Stuff Eatery in Southeast Washington, says, “I used to sign e-mails totally erratically. Like, I’d write, ‘From Spike,’ and intentionally put a comma after my name just to rebel against grammar.” Perhaps TV fame has mellowed him (yes, he’s that Spike, the one who wore a series of hats throughout “Top Chef”), as he now simply signs off with “Love and Bacon.”

Whether you love bacon or puppies or flowers, a person can choose particular-to-me closings, the likes of which we’ve spotted since the familiar blue triangle of AOL began its cyber rule at the dawn of the ’90s. Post, for one, fondly recalls that his sister used to sign to letters (and now signs e-mails) with “WLAFR”–”With love and fondest regards.” The Rev. James Schall, a professor of government at Georgetown University, says he closes all his informal correspondence with “Pray for me.” (“One does,” he says, “get funny reactions.”) Peter Baker, a “Best wishes” sort and an English professor at the University of Virginia, reports having spotted an Old English sign-off at the end of a colleague’s e-mail — “swa a,” which apparently means “as ever.”

Participants in the StrategyOne survey reported all manner of strange e-mail closings that tumble forth from correspondents reveling in the intoxicating mania of near-instantaneous communication. Among them: “In brotherhood,” “That’s me yo,” “Hope you live through the night,” “Safety first,” “Make love not war, that’s what Army cots are for,”‘ “Wonka wonka” and “Seacrest out.”

Until e-mail etiquette starts being taught in elementary school (is it?), perhaps we’ve little choice left but to hit send first and ask forgiveness later. Cheers & Ciao, Yr Obdt Srvt.

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Full article and photo: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/02/AR2009080202073.html

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Twittergraphy

To all those who bemoan text-messaging language as completely unintelligible, the NYT‘s Ben Schott notes there’s nothing new about abbreviating words. When people sent telegrams, they were often forced to cut words because carriers charged extra for long words and messages, which gave rise to a “boom in telegraphic code books that reduced both common and complex phrases into single words.” In an excerpt from one of these books we learn that Flank stood for, “A fire is raging here. Please send engine.” Just a tad more difficult to decipher than l8r.

The full article reads:

Twittergraphy

The 140-character limit of Twitter posts was guided by the 160-character limit established by the developers of SMS. However, there is nothing new about new technology imposing restrictions on articulation. During the late 19th-century telegraphy boom, some carriers charged extra for words longer than 15 characters and for messages longer than 10 words. Thus, the cheapest telegram was often limited to 150 characters†.

Concerns for economy, as well as a desire for secrecy, fueled a boom in telegraphic code books that reduced both common and complex phrases into single words. Dozens of different codes were published; many catered to specific occupations and all promised efficiency.

The phrases below are from the third edition of “The Anglo-American Telegraphic Code,” published in 1891. It can only be hoped that, as Twitter advances, more people will begin Tweeting in code, thus:

Ben Schott, the author of Schott’s Miscellany 2009, is a contributing columnist for The Times.

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/opinion/03schott.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224151/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/03/banks-take-fed-school

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Today’s papers – August 2, 2009

Prolonged Aid to Unemployed Is Running Out

The New York Times leads with the news that, despite signs of recovery, 9 million Americans who lost jobs near the start of the recession are now nearing the limits of their unemployment insurance, even as extended and boosted by stimulus legislation.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02unemploy.html

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A Political Odyssey

The Washington Post leads with a peek at White House reporters Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s new book on the Obama campaign.

The Post reporters’ new campaign synthesis is probably worth reading at least in shortened form, even though you’ll wonder why when you thought everything had been hashed over months ago, for the expansive ruminations from the president after the election and before the battles he is currently engaged in were joined.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073101582_pf.html

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The crafting of Obama’s Cairo speech to world’s Muslims

For another Obama flashback, read the LAT‘s inside story of how his Cairo speech went from legal pad to prime time.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cairo-speech2-2009aug02,0,7320667.story

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Obama Trims Sails on Health Reform

As  if to fast forward, the Post outlines the Obama administration’s increasingly compromising approach on health care reform, as the president gives ground on more and more formerly ironclad priorities in order to keep the bill moving toward approval. Politically, leaving the bill-writing in Congress’ hands is a strategy that contrasts sharply with the Clinton approach of presenting a fully formed bill for acceptance or rejection.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080102403_pf.html

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The Lobbying Web

Back in “Week in Review,” the NYT looks at the challenges facing health care lobbyists as they scramble to keep tabs on a legislative effort where the president’s willingness to cede ground is uncertain, a handful of committees are each in charge of some small piece of a very large bill, and the targets are constantly moving.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/weekinreview/02harwood.html

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Congress’ own healthcare benefits: Membership has its privileges

For its health care contribution, the LAT looks at the generous plan enjoyed by members of Congress, which only Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin has declined until all Americans enjoy the same level of care.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-congress-benefits2-2009aug02,0,463498,full.story

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Conspiracy Trial for 100 Dissidents Begins in Iran

The NYT fronts a bizarre tale of the mass trial in Iran that is prosecuting 100 people simultaneously for their roles in postelection unrest. The accused, some of whom have “confessed” on tape to subversion and foreign manipulation, include opposition clerics, bloggers, former government officials, and a Newsweek reporter, along with notables like Nobel Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi (in absentia).

The full article reads:

Conspiracy Trial for 100 Dissidents Begins in Iran

A photo by the Fars news agency showed Muhammad Ali Abtahi, third from right, a former vice president, among the more than 100 defendants at a trial for reformers on Saturday.

The Iranian authorities opened an extraordinary mass trial against more than 100 opposition figures on Saturday, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution through terrorism, subversion, and a media campaign to discredit last month’s presidential election.

The trial, coming just days before President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to be sworn in for a second term, signaled an intensified government attack on the opposition movement, which maintains that the June 12 election was rigged and continues to muster widespread street protests.

The accusations read out in the courtroom were a broadside against virtually every major figure associated with reform in Iran, going well beyond those actually arrested. State television broadcast images of the defendants, who included a former vice president and a Newsweek reporter, as well as some of the reform movement’s best-known spokesmen, clad in prison uniforms and listening as prosecutors outlined their accusations in a large marble-floored courtroom. Some were shackled.

Opposition leaders angrily disputed the accusations on Saturday and protested that the defendants had had no access to lawyers or to details of the charges against them.

The leading opposition presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, issued a call on his Web site, Ghalam News, for Iranians to resume their nightly protest chants of “God is great” more intensely than ever.

Those protests have infuriated the country’s ruling ayatollahs, and Basij militiamen roam the streets in force in an effort to snuff out the chanting wherever it crops up.

Although the trial was expected, its scale took many Iranians by surprise, coming days after the government said there would be only 20 defendants.

As the trial started, just after 9 a.m., prosecutors named a long and wide-ranging list of conspirators, including the Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and the Stanford historian Abbas Milani, and echoed the Iranian government’s longstanding claims that its internal critics are pawns of an international plot to undermine the Islamic republic through human rights groups and even terrorists. There was no indication that the authorities intended to arrest Mr. Moussavi or any others not yet charged, but prosecutors accused him of drawing crucial support from enemies of the state in Iran and abroad.

The only media organization allowed to cover the trial was the semiofficial Fars news agency, which has links to the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. That, in combination with recent revelations about the Guards’ central role in holding detained protesters, bolstered a widespread view that the Guards were aggressively leading the effort to put down the opposition movement. Some have taken Mr. Ahmadinejad’s dismissal last week of his intelligence minister, who had objected to the broadcasting of confessions by detainees, as yet another sign of the Guards’ control.

On Saturday, prosecutors highlighted what they called a confession by Muhammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric who served as vice president under the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami. Mr. Abtahi, one of Iran’s most widely read bloggers, was arrested shortly after the election, and word later emerged that he had appeared in a tearful videotaped confession. Such confessions, which have frequently been used before, are almost always obtained under duress, according to human rights groups and the defendants themselves.

“I believe the reformists had prepared for two or three years for this election, in order to limit the powers of the supreme leader,” Mr. Abtahi said, according to a Fars transcript. “I want to tell all friends that there was no fraud in the election, it was just a lie to build the protests around.”

In his confession, Mr. Abtahi began by praising the high election turnout. Later in the confession, he said the three leading opposition figures — Mr. Moussavi, Mr. Khatami and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani — “promised to always back each other up” in distorting the election results.

Mr. Rafsanjani, a powerful insider who has shown support for the opposition, harshly criticized the trial on Saturday, saying that “the obtaining of confessions from those who have recently been imprisoned,” which formed the basis of the indictment, had thrown the basis of the country’s entire government into question, according to a statement posted on the semiofficial Mehr news agency.

In photographs, Mr. Abtahi could be seen sitting in a gray prison uniform in the front row at the trial clutching a white piece of paper, his cleric’s turban gone and his face a grim mask. Seated near him was Muhammad Atrianfar, a prominent journalist who served as deputy interior minister.

There were other former high-ranking officials in the dock as well, including a former deputy Parliament speaker, Behzad Nabavi, and a former deputy economy minister, Mohsen Safai-Farahani. Also on trial was an Iranian-American scholar, Kian Tajbakhsh, who was seized last month by the police.

The deputy prosecutor in Tehran, Abdolreza Mohebati, also referred to what he called incriminating remarks by Maziar Bahari, a journalist who works for Newsweek, suggesting that there was a “policy of the Western media” to say the trial was rigged before it even took place. Later, Mr. Bahari was brought out to speak to journalists on the sidelines of the trial, where he delivered a short, chilling lecture on the media’s alleged role in fomenting a “velvet revolution.” He then asked forgiveness from the Iranian people and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Some senior government officials touted Mr. Abtahi’s confession as proof of the opposition’s malign intent. But the confession, which was disjointed and at times almost incoherent, seemed to be a kind of compromise with what his interrogators wanted him to say. At one point, Mr. Abtahi is quoted as saying, “I think there was the capacity for what the deputy prosecutor called a ‘velvet revolution,’ but I don’t know if the intention was there or not.”

Like the prosecutors’ opening statement, the six-part indictment was wide-ranging but focused heavily on the role of the media, suggesting repeatedly that acts as simple as taking pictures of protests should be seen as criminal acts aimed at subverting the Islamic republic and its supreme leader. Its claims were based largely on the alleged confessions of Mr. Abtahi and others, and on the testimony of an unnamed alleged spy.

The indictment did not identify specific charges, but in past trials the government accused defendants of “acting against national security,” which can carry the death penalty. In earlier cases, reformists were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms, which often were significantly reduced by appeals courts.

Omid Memarian, an Iran consultant at Human Rights Watch who was jailed in 2004 on accusations of jeopardizing national security, said the government now wants to justify its use of violence in putting down the demonstrations.

“It is part of their effort to say the results were not rigged,” he said. “But it will backlash against them like other efforts.”

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/world/middleeast/02iran.html

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In Russia, witnesses risk their lives

The story makes an appearance in the skyboxes at the LAT—which illuminates another case of imperfect justice in how witnesses are treated in Russia—but only inside the Post, which finds room on A1 instead for reports on the NFL’s Twitter problem and domestic difficulty over wrangling with the AC.

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With Twitter’s Arrival, NFL Loses Control of Image Game

The article says that the league is leery of the publicity problems that could crop up as more players join Twitter and provide fans with real-time status updates. Many players like the fact that Twitter posts are “quicker, more accessible and less likely to be filtered through agents, publicists or team officials before publication.” The “image-obsessed” league is worried, but it seems that fans and many athletes think that the new outlet is a good thing. In the words of one rookie wide receiver: “It’s all about the helmet, but when Twitter comes out, you get the real person.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080102404_pf.html

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A/C Setting Can Push Couples to Boiling Point

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080101839.html

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The full LAT story reads:

In Russia, witnesses risk their lives

Officers with the Russian witness protection force exercise their skills in a mock ambush on a highway near Moscow. According to police statistics, 10 million people testify each year in criminal trials. Half of them are threatened, police say, and only 20,000 of those are given protection.

In a corrupt legal climate, testifying at trial is fraught with danger: kidnapping, arson, break-ins, attacks. With many Russians also afraid of the police, a witness protection program is little help

Valery Kazakov was almost to the prosecutor’s office when the killers caught him. He was shot as he cut through an alleyway, and when he stumbled bleeding into the street, a man bent down to stab the final breaths out of him.

It was 3 o’clock in the afternoon, in the heart of the sleepy town of Pushkino. As far as the townspeople were concerned, it was a public execution. Kazakov, a former police officer, was believed to have been on his way to testify in the corruption case against the former mayor.

It has been a year now, and Kazakov’s widow holds out little hope of justice, shrugging off the idea with weary skepticism. Police recently arrested the alleged killer, but that’s just a “technical detail,” Maria Kazakova says. She wants to know who put the hit on her husband, who ordered and paid for it.

“Maybe we’ll find out, if the killer isn’t killed before he starts talking.” Kazakova pauses, staring down into her coffee cup. “Nothing is clean in Russia.”

This is the “legal nihilism” that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has famously decried: an epidemic of witness tampering that bedevils courts across the country, little abated by an Interior Ministry reshuffle and the recent creation of a fledgling witness protection program.

The dysfunctional nature of Russia’s legal system is legend — crooked cops and judges; bribery and corruption; endless corridors and inexplicable verdicts. When Medvedev, a career lawyer, made the wildly ambitious pledge to mend the cracked wheels of justice, he set himself a test that will determine whether he can have any sway over the kind of country he leads.

Through the collapse of communism, the wild swings of the 1990s and long years of the oil and gas boom, Russia’s failure to establish the rule of law has lingered as one of the great impediments to development. It is a problem that infects the texture of daily life, running much deeper than high-profile tragedies such as the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and other Kremlin critics.

When it comes to witness tampering, the inertia of the status quo is crushing: According to police statistics, 10 million people testify each year in criminal trials. Half of them are threatened, police say.

Of those 5 million, just 20,000 are protected, leaving the rest to fend for themselves against kidnapping, arson, break-ins, street attacks, and attempts on their lives. There are no reliable statistics detailing how many come under attack.

“They either don’t inform us of the danger signals, or they don’t realize the scope of the threat,” says Col. Oleg Zimin, head of the Interior Ministry’s witness protection directorate.

But lawyers and victims’ advocates tell another story. They say that people are often more frightened of police than of criminals, and view them, with no small justification, as potentially linked to the same gangsters issuing threats.

“Citizens correctly believe that cooperation with law enforcement will bring them nothing but trouble,” says Olga Kostina, a lawyer who works with witnesses and crime victims for the Resistance human rights group.

Created in 2006, Russia’s first witness protection program is run by the Interior Ministry’s organized-crime division, which hoped to get witnesses to stick to their stories.

At the time, Zimin says, “very, very many people were recanting their testimony during the course of investigations. Some of them changed testimony right in court. They were threatened, they were bribed, they had property destroyed.”

He bridles at the suggestion that people are afraid of police, saying that many would-be witnesses are criminals themselves, and therefore avoid contact with police. More witnesses will be protected, he says, as soon as the public learns more about his program.

When Medvedev took office and launched his campaign against the legal chaos, the organized-crime division was broken into two units: a “division to combat extremism” and what is now the witness protection program.

These changes were accompanied by a hearty propaganda push. Eager to drum up confidence in the witness protection effort, state news has held up Vera Bobryakova as a success story.

The short-order cook’s troubles began when gangsters hired her husband to drive a car freighted with stolen gold to the restive province of Ingushetia. On his way south, he absconded with his cargo, went into hiding and stopped answering his phone.

Infuriated, gangsters stalked the couple’s home, kidnapped their 2-year-old daughter, threw a fake grenade through a window and slit the throats of their dogs. The child was set free, but for months she cowered from men and remained silent, too traumatized to talk, her mother says.

When the gang hunted down Bobryakova’s husband, he called the police and cut a deal. He agreed that he and his wife would testify against two members of the gang, and they were moved into the witness protection program.

The Bobryakovs sent their children to live with her parents, sold their house and took up residence in a police station. The head of the gang was sentenced to five years. Spotting Bobryakova in the courtroom, he said to her, “Some time will pass and I’ll get out, and we’ll meet again.”

Once the trial was over, the Bobryakovs said they received a letter informing them that they’d been dropped from the witness protection program.

“Then we lost all hope of ever getting our life back,” Bobryakova says. “We realized that the government had washed its hands of us, and didn’t really want to protect us.”

The danger is compounded because the couple is still expected to testify in a second trial.

“They’ll come back sooner or later, and they’ll find me,” Bobryakova says of the gang members. “They know where I am. And I know I’ll get no protection this time.”

Bobryakova was particularly outraged when Russian state television featured her family in a documentary about Medvedev’s push for witness protection.

“The program was totally outrageous,” she says. “The point of it was that the state saved us and helped us in everything, and that it was only because of the witness program that we survived.”

Worst of all, despite the assurances she says she received from the film crew, the couple’s faces and voices appeared unaltered on national television.

The Bobryakovs’ tale is a cautionary one and hints at the reasons for the nervousness of Maria Kazakova, the policeman’s widow.

Sipping coffee in a swank cafe near the Kremlin, she says she has taken over her husband’s “business interests,” but won’t say what kind of business he was running.

The 30-year-old looks like a young Christie Brinkley, swathed in designer black, fingers and throat covered with diamonds and cranked up on heels.

She is nervous, she says, because the former mayor’s trial has ended. The man she describes as her husband’s “enemy” was handed a suspended sentence.

In fact, she’s so nervous that she doesn’t like people saying that her husband was on his way to testify. There’s no proof, she insists. True, she allows, her husband had detailed knowledge of the power struggles that gripped Pushkino in recent years.

“There were open wars. People were beaten up with baseball bats, cars were burned down, shops were torched,” she says. “Of course, he knew all about it, and he didn’t conceal that he knew.”

But she’s got a family to raise, so she’d rather keep quiet and move forward. Russia is a rough place, she says. Her children will have to know that, too, one day.

“For us, this is a normal state,” she says. “Nobody expected anybody to be killed, but . . .”

She trails off, and shrugs, again.

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Full article and photo: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-witness2-2009aug02,0,923453,full.story

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There’s Still a War In Iraq. It Isn’t Ours.

“Outlook,” the Post goes and does something you never expected: It declares the war in Iraq over, at least for America, proclaiming that “the moment for doing nothing” has arrived. The generals say there is still work to be done, but they mostly mean Iraqi forces will be the ones doing it.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073102582_pf.html

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Halted ’03 Iraq Plan Illustrates U.S. Fear of Cyberwar Risk

For the new frontier, the NYT outlines the United States’ approach to cyberwarfare—or attacking a country’s computer networks and defending one’s own—which has been comfortingly cautious. As early as 2003, the Bush administration considered launching a cyberattack to freeze Saddam Hussein’s assets but balked for fear of upsetting the civilian financial system in the Middle East and further afield.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/politics/02cyber.html

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After Combat, Victims of an Inner War

In the matchup for Sunday off-lead features, we have the NYT‘s heartbreaking story of Sgt. Jacob Blaylock, who shot himself seven months after his return from Iraq in spring 2007—one of four men in his 175-person unit to take his life, and part of a rising tide of suicides that reached 192 reported deaths last year.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02suicide.html

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A Conflict’s Deadly Ripple Effects

The Post depresses the mood even further with a portrait of the personal cost of war in the Congo, which is surging again as the Congolese army targets Rwandan rebels. Five million people are estimated to have died in the conflict since 1994, as many from secondary effects like disease and malnutrition as from direct violence.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/01/AR2009080101140_pf.html

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Census of Marine Life maps an ocean of species

The LAT perks things up a bit, though, with a description of the decade-long census of marine life to be released next year that maps every squid, tuna, and worm—or at least significant populations of them—underneath the sea.

Photos from the article:

It looks like a bizarre variety of squid, but this creature that biologists found in the Celebes Sea, off Borneo, is actually a new species of worm.

 

This 3-centimeter-long isopod, a relative of the land-dwelling pill bug, was collected 1.25 miles down in the Celebes Sea from a remotely operated vehicle.

 

This transparent pink sea cucumber, as its full (and fully visible) gut attests, has recently dined. It eats on the ocean floor and uses its wing-like collar to swim.

Scientists believe this transparent jellyfish has red pigment around its stomach to keep bioluminescent prey, as it digests, from advertising the jellyfish’s whereabouts to larger, hungry animals.

This squid, Histioteuthis sp., is about 6 inches long and is covered with spots, called chromatophores, that let it change color at will. Its eyes are different sizes.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fish2-2009aug02,0,5872027,full.story

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Health complaints linked to former NASA site in Downey

The Los Angeles Times leads local with a whopper investigation into a Hollywood set production facility converted from an old NASA plant, where workers have been falling ill—but the factory’s owners deny that workers’ aggravated flulike symptoms could be work-related, saying toxic cleanup got rid of anything that might be considered unsafe.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-downey2-2009aug02,0,6357142,full.story

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Give BB&T Liberty, but Not a Bailout

Turn back to the NYT‘s business page for an awesome profile of an odd duck in the banking industry, John A. Allison of BB&T, to whom the current financial system is an Ayn Randian nightmare. The Atlas Shrugged author’s warnings against government encroachment on liberty have taken a fresh hold on entrepreneurial types, but no one adheres more strongly than this self-made CEO.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02bbt.html

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$100 Million Payday Poses Problem for Pay Czar

Relatedly, the NYT looks at a choice the Treasury’s new czar for executive pay faces in dealing with Andrew Hall, the billionaire energy trader who grew rich from oil speculation—driving the price up for consumers—and is now owed $100 million in a contract with Citigroup.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02bonus.html

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TV Contestants: Tired, Tipsy and Pushed to Brink

Want to be a reality-show star? Think again—the NYT calls it “Hollywood’s sweatshop.” Hey, tipsy tired people make for good TV!

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/media/02reality.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224146/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/08/02/jobless-benefits-are-running-low

Read Full Post »

Today’s papers – August 1, 2009

Economy Turning Out of Steep Dive

The New York Times and the Washington Post lead with, and the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal front, the government’s announcement that the U.S. economy contracted at a much slower pace in the second quarter of 2009, laying ground for growth in the next half of the year.

The United States’ gross domestic product shrunk only 1 percent from April-June, a decrease of more than 5 percent from the first quarter and a slight improvement on predictions of a 1.5 percent contraction. The smaller contraction means the economy will likely grow in the second half of this year, but all the papers worry that consumer spending, responsible for about 70 percent of all economic activity, will remain on lockdown.

The upturn is mostly the work of an 11 percent increase in government spending, a reality the NYT observes could wear on President Obama and the Democrats if they have to keep spending to fuel the recovery. And there’s no good news on the job front yet: Double-digit unemployment looms for at least several more months.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073101350.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-econ1-2009aug01,0,4407127.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/economy/01econ.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124904159680096697.html

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House panel OKs healthcare bill, setting stage for fall vote

The LAT leads with a House committee’s 31-28 passage of a health care bill that sets the price tag at $1 trillion over 10 years and incorporates conservatives’ demands for more exemptions.

In another significant move in the House yesterday, a health care bill emerged from the energy and commerce committee that is “sure to draw fire from a variety of interests, but also shows the beginnings of a consensus,” the NYT reports.

Voting after 9 p.m. last night, five Democrats joined all 23 Republicans in opposing the bill. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., complained that members of his party were only allowed to “pick the color of the lipstick on this pig.” Democrats will now “fan out” over the country to help Obama sell the plan during the August recess, hoping to combat the impression that the overhaul is a government takeover.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-healthcare-house1-2009aug01,0,7261961.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/health/policy/01health.html

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Talk Radio Campaign Frightening Seniors

In a separate front-page story, the WP reports on a conservative talk-radio campaign to brand the Obama proposal as “death care.” Obama has called for controls on excessive medical bills, and right-wing pundits are telling listeners that his plan to counsel senior citizens about cost-effective treatment amounts to “euthanasia.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/31/AR2009073103148.html

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New Cash Steered to Clunkers

The WSJ leads with the House’s other major accomplishment of yesterday afternoon: a motion to put $2 billion into a car-repurchase program known as “cash for clunkers.”

All four papers give prime placement to Congress’ emergency salvation of “cash for clunkers,” a new program that offers consumers up to $4,500 to give up their old car for a more fuel-efficient model. The program “burned through” $1 billion in its first week, as dealers experienced a surge in sales but had technical difficulties reporting them through the Department of Transportation’s Web site. It was originally scheduled to run through October.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124903908261696593.html

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Why Israel Is Nervous

A WSJ essay dives into the growing tensions between the United States and Israel, indicated by the fact that only 6 percent of Israelis view President Obama as “pro-Israel,” while 88 percent saw George W. Bush that way. The relationship has always had its share of friction, but now Iran forms the core of Israel’s nervousness. Obama is trying out a pro-engagement critique of the Bush administration that Israel sees as naive. “U.S.-Israel tension will grow as Israel watches the clock tick and sees its options narrowed to two: live with an Iranian bomb, or strike Iran soon to delay its program long enough for real political change.”

The full article reads:

Why Israel Is Nervous

Tension is escalating between the U.S and Israel. The problem: The administration views the Israeli-Palestinian issue as the root of all problems, while Israel is focused on Iran’s nuclear threat, says Elliott Abrams.

The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something. It was not quite clear what.

Since President Obama came to office on Jan. 20 and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 31, the main motif in relations between the two governments has been friction. While nearly 80% of American Jews voted for Mr. Obama, that friction has been visible enough to propel him to meet with American Jewish leaders recently to reassure them about his policies. But last month, despite those reassurances, both the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League issued statements critical of the president’s handling of Israel. Given the warm relations during the Bush years and candidate Obama’s repeated statements of commitment to the very best relations with Israel, why have we fallen into this rut?

U.S.-Israel relations are often depicted as an extended honeymoon, but that’s a false image. Harry Truman, who was a Bible-believing Christian Zionist, defied the secretary of state he so admired, George C. Marshall, and won a place in Israel’s history by recognizing the new state 11 minutes after it declared its independence in 1948. Relations weren’t particularly warm under Eisenhower—who, after all, demanded that Israel, along with Britain and France, leave Suez in 1956. The real alliance began in 1967, after Israel’s smashing victory in the Six Day War, and it was American arms and Nixon’s warnings to the Soviet Union to stay out that allowed Israel to survive and prevail in the 1973 war. Israelis are no fans of President Carter and, as his more recent writings have revealed, his own view of Israel is very hostile. During the George H.W. Bush and Clinton years, there were moments of close cooperation, but also of great friction—as when Bush suspended loan guarantees to Israel, or when the Clinton administration butted heads with Mr. Netanyahu time after time during peace negotiations. Even during the George W. Bush years, when Israel’s struggle against the terrorist “intifada” and the U.S. “global war on terror” led to unprecedented closeness and cooperation, there was occasional friction over American pressure for what Israelis viewed as endless concessions to the Palestinians to enable the signing of a peace agreement before the president’s term ended. This “special relationship” has been marked by intense and frequent contact and often by extremely close (and often secret) collaboration, but not by the absence of discord.

Yet no other administration, even among those experiencing considerable dissonance with Israel, started off with as many difficulties as Obama’s. There are two explanations for this problem, and the simpler one is personal politics. Mr. Netanyahu no doubt remembers very well the last Democratic administration’s glee at his downfall in 1999, something Dennis Ross admits clearly in his book “The Missing Peace.” The prime minister must wonder if the current bilateral friction is an effort to persuade Israelis that he is not the right man for the job, or at least to persuade them that his policies must be rejected. When Israeli liberals plead for Obama to “talk to Israel,” they are hoping that Obama will help them revive the Israeli Left, recently vanquished in national elections. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Mr. Obama and his team wish former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had won the top job and view Mr. Netanyahu and his Likud Party with some suspicion. The result, of course, is to make personal relations among policy makers more difficult, and to make trust and confidence between the two governments harder as well.

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A Relationship Marked by Friction and Warmth

U.S.-Israel relations are often depicted as an extended honeymoon, but that’s a false image.

May 14, 1948

Israel declares independence, President Harry Truman recognizes Israel 11 minutes later, Arab states attack and War of Independence begins.

1964

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded by Yasser Arafat with the goal of destroying the state of Israel. 

1967

“Six-Day War”: Israel captures Sinai, Gaza, West Bank, Jerusalem. 

1973

“Yom Kippur War”: a surprise attack on Israel by Arab states on the Jewish holy day. Soviets back Arabs, Nixon orders U.S. arms airlift to Israel.

1993

Oslo Accords are signed; Israel and PLO agree to mutual recognition. Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat receive the Nobel Peace Prize following year.

2000

President Bill Clinton’s efforts to broker Israel-PLO and Israel-Syria peace deals fail. Intifada begins; suicide bombings hit civilian targets in Israel.

2001

President George W. Bush announces that U.S. will support the creation of a Palestinian state.

2005

Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon withdraws all Israeli settlements from Gaza.

December 2008-January 2009

Israeli forces enter Gaza to fight Hamas, end rocketing across border.

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But the Obama administration has managed to win the mistrust of most Israelis, not just conservative politicians. Despite his great popularity in many parts of the world, in Israel Obama is now seen as no ally. A June poll found that just 6% of Israelis called him “pro-Israel,” when 88% had seen President George W. Bush that way. So the troubles between the U.S. and Israel are not fundamentally found in the personal relations among policy makers.

The deeper problem—and the more complex explanation of bilateral tensions—is that the Obama administration, while claiming to separate itself from the “ideologues” of the Bush administration in favor of a more balanced and realistic Middle East policy, is in fact following a highly ideological policy path. Its ability to cope with, indeed even to see clearly, the realities of life in Israel and the West Bank and the challenge of Iran to the region is compromised by the prism through which it analyzes events.

The administration view begins with a critique of Bush foreign policy—as much too reliant on military pressure and isolated in the world. The antidote is a policy of outreach and engagement, especially with places like Syria, Venezuela, North Korea and Iran. Engagement with the Muslim world is a special goal, which leads not only to the president’s speech in Cairo on June 4 but also to a distancing from Israel so as to appear more “even-handed” to Arab states. Seen from Jerusalem, all this looks like a flashing red light: trouble ahead.

Iran is the major security issue facing Israel, which sees itself confronting an extremist regime seeking nuclear weapons and stating openly that Israel should be wiped off the map. Israel believes the military option has to be on the table and credible if diplomacy and sanctions are to have any chance, and many Israelis believe a military strike on Iran may in the end be unavoidable. The Obama administration, on the other hand, talks of outstretched hands; on July 15, even after Iran’s election, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said “we understand the importance of offering to engage Iran….direct talks provide the best vehicle….We remain ready to engage with Iran.”

To the Israelis this seems unrealistic, even naïve, while to U.S. officials an Israeli attack on Iran is a nightmare that would upset Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world. The remarkable events in Iran have slowed down U.S. engagement, but not the Iranian nuclear program. If the current dissent in Iran leads to regime change, or if new United Nations sanctions force Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program, this source of U.S.-Israel tension will disappear. But it is more likely that Iran will forge ahead toward building a weapon, and U.S.-Israel tension will grow as Israel watches the clock tick and sees its options narrowed to two: live with an Iranian bomb, or strike Iran soon to delay its program long enough for real political change to come to that country.

Israel believes the only thing worse than bombing Iran is Iran’s having the Bomb, but the evidence suggests this is not the Obama view.

If Iran is the most dangerous source of U.S.-Israel tension, the one most often discussed is settlements: The Obama administration has sought a total “freeze” on “Israeli settlement growth.” The Israelis years ago agreed there would be no new settlements and no physical expansion of settlements, just building “up and in” inside already existing communities. Additional construction in settlements does not harm Palestinians, who in fact get most of the construction jobs. The West Bank economy is growing fast and the Israelis are removing security roadblocks so Palestinians can get around the West Bank better.

Special Envoy George Mitchell meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

A recent International Monetary Fund report stated that “macroeconomic conditions in the West Bank have improved” largely because “Israeli restrictions on internal trade and the passage of people have been relaxed significantly.” What’s more, says the IMF, “continuation of the relaxation of restrictions could result in real GDP growth of 7% for 2009 as a whole.” That’s a gross domestic product growth rate Americans would leap at, so what’s this dispute about?

It is, once again, about the subordination of reality to pre-existing theories. In this case, the theory is that every problem in the Middle East is related to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. The administration takes the view that “merely” improving life for Palestinians and doing the hard work needed to prepare them for eventual independence isn’t enough. Nor is it daunted by the minor detail that half of the eventual Palestine is controlled by the terrorist group Hamas.

Instead, in keeping with its “yes we can” approach and its boundless ambitions, it has decided to go not only for a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, but also for comprehensive peace in the region. Mr. Mitchell explained that this “includes Israel and Palestine, Israel and Syria, Israel and Lebanon and normal relations with all countries in the region. That is President Obama’s personal objective vision and that is what he is asking to achieve. In order to achieve that we have asked all involved to take steps.” The administration (pocketing the economic progress Israel is fostering in the West Bank) decided that Israel’s “step” would be to impose a complete settlement freeze, which would be proffered to the Arabs to elicit “steps” from them.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, right, walks with U.S. ambassador to Israel James Cunningham, center, and Israeli Defense Ministry Director-General Pinchas Buchris.

But Israelis notice that already the Saudis have refused to take any “steps” toward Israel, and other Arab states are apparently offering weak tea: a quiet meeting here, overflight rights there, but nothing approaching normal relations. They also notice that Mr. Mitchell was in Syria last week, smiling warmly at its repressive ruler Bashar Assad and explaining that the administration would start waiving the sanctions on Syria to allow export of “products related to information technology and telecommunication equipment and parts and components related to the safety of civil aviation” and will “process all eligible applications for export licenses as quickly as possible.” While sanctions on certain Syrian individuals were renewed last week, the message to the regime is that better days lie ahead. Of this approach the Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid told the Wall Street Journal, “The regime feels very confident politically now. Damascus feels like it’s getting a lot without giving up anything.” Indeed, no “steps” from Syria appear to be on the horizon, except Mr. Assad’s willingness to come to the negotiating table where he will demand the Golan Heights back but refuse to make the break with Iran and Hezbollah that must be the basis for any serious peace negotiation.

None of this appears to have diminished the administration’s zeal, for bilateral relations with everyone take a back seat once the goal of comprehensive peace is put on the table. The only important thing about a nation’s policies becomes whether it appears to play ball with the big peace effort. The Syrian dictatorship is viciously repressive, houses terrorist groups and happily assists jihadis through Damascus International Airport on their way to Iraq to fight U.S. and Coalition forces, but any concerns we might have are counterbalanced by the desire to get Mr. Assad to buy in to new negotiations with Israel. (Is the new “information technology” we’ll be offering Mr. Assad likely to help dissidents there, or to help him suppress them?)

Future stability in Egypt is uncertain because President Hosni Mubarak is nearing 80, reportedly not in good health, and continues to crush all moderate opposition forces, but this is all ignored as we enlist Mr. Mubarak’s cooperation in the comprehensive peace scheme. As we saw in the latter part of the Clinton and Bush administrations, once you commit to a major effort at an international peace conference or a comprehensive Middle East peace, those goals overwhelm all others.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.

Israelis have learned the hard way that reality cannot be ignored and that ideology offers no protection from danger. Four wars and a constant battle against terrorism sobered them up, and made them far less susceptible than most audiences to the Obama speeches that charmed Americans, Europeans, and many Muslim nations. A policy based in realism would help the Palestinians prepare for an eventual state while we turn our energies toward the real challenge confronting the entire region: what is to be done about Iran as it faces its first internal crisis since the regime came to power in 1979.

Mrs. Clinton recently decried “rigid ideologies and old formulas,” but the tension with Israel shows the administration is—up to now—following the old script that attributes every problem in the region to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while all who live there can see that developments in Iran are in fact the linchpin of the region’s future. The Obama administration’s “old formulas” have produced the current tensions with Israel. They will diminish only if the administration adopts a more realistic view of what progress is possible, and what dangers lurk, in the Middle East.

Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. He was the deputy national security adviser overseeing Near East and North African affairs under President George W. Bush from 2005 to January 2009.

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Full article and photos: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574320532174317294.html

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Voices From Above Silence a Cable TV Feud

The heavily blogged feud between MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly was so intense that network executives had to step in and pull the two apart. Officials from both networks attended a Charlie Rose-hosted meeting in May to defuse tensions between their channels. The feud increased ratings for both prime-time shows, but executives were apparently relieved to have it behind them.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/business/media/01feud.html

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In New York, It’s the Summer That Isn’t

For only the second time in 140 years, the temperature failed to reach 90 degrees in New York City in June or July. If August follows a similar pattern, this will be the city’s coolest summer on record.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/nyregion/01hot.html

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America’s Not-So-Fast Trains

A NYT editorial argues that President Obama and Congress have “an obligation to make a down payment on high-speed-rail corridors across the nation.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/01/opinion/01sat3.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224144/

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Today’s papers – July 31, 2009

In Afghanistan, U.S. May Shift Strategy

The Washington Post leads with word that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has written an assessment report that proposes to make several changes to the way U.S. and NATO troops operate in Afghanistan. Gen. Stanley McChrystal wants to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan to help fight against the Taliban through a more local approach that relies on building trust with the Afghan people and vastly increasing the number of Afghan security forces.

McChrystal is waiting to hear back from advisers who are currently reviewing his assessment report before making any final recommendations to the White House, particularly on the sensitive issue of troop requests. It’s not clear exactly how many more troops McChrystal thinks are needed in Afghanistan, but it’s likely that a request of that nature would “receive a chilly reception at the White House,” as the Post puts it. Administration officials say the president wants to first see how the additional troops that were sent in the spring are used before even thinking about approving more. Other items in McChrystal’s assessment aren’t exactly surprising, seeing as though they continue on the same theme that has been talked about for a while now. He wants to make changes to how the troops operate so that they’re living in the middle of population centers, carrying out foot patrols, and working with local power brokers. McChrystal wants more attention paid to fighting corruption in the government while also almost doubling the size of Afghan security forces.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073003948.html

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Thousands Mourn In Tehran

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with, while the WP and Los Angeles Times front, the Iranians who took to the streets to publicly mourn those who were killed in the post-election violence. Thousands gathered at Tehran’s main cemetery to mark the religiously significant 40^th day since the most violent clashes took place, including the shooting of 27-year-old Neda Agha-Soltan.

Iran’s security forces prevented opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi from visiting the cemetery in Tehran and fiercely tried to disperse the demonstrators, who had not been given permission to gather. The WP is the only paper to have a staffer inside Tehran—the LAT has a special correspondent—and paints the most dramatic picture of yesterday’s clashes, noting that protesters often fought back, for example by beating members of the Basij militia with their own batons and breaking the windows of a van to free demonstrators who had been arrested. The WP describes unhinged security forces that smashed cars when their drivers dared to honk in support of the protesters. The LAT notes that the size of the protests seemed to catch security forces off guard and says that at certain points they “appeared divided” over whether they should beat demonstrators. Coming almost 50 days since the election, the protests showed there is still widespread anger at the results and virtually guarantees there will be more confrontations next week when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is inaugurated for a second term.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124894946440393289.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073000291.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-protests31-2009jul31,0,7400028.story

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Big Banks Paid Billions in Bonuses Amid Wall St. Crisis

The New York Times leads with a report by the New York attorney general’s office that reveals nine big banks that received government bailout money paid almost $33 billion in bonuses last year. About 5,000 of their employees received bonuses of more than $1 million each.

Releasing the new report on Wall Street bonuses, Andrew Cuomo, the New York attorney general, said last year’s hefty bonuses were particularly insulting considering the companies got billions of dollars from taxpayers in order to survive. “When the banks did well, their employees were paid well,” the report said. “When the banks did poorly, their employees were paid well. And when the banks did very poorly, they were bailed out by taxpayers and their employees were still paid well.”

While the new numbers are almost certain to reignite outrage in Washington and beyond, those in Wall Street defend the practice saying that bonuses are usually based more on individual performance rather than the company’s overall results. In a display of how important the bonus culture is in Wall Street, the WSJ points out that six of the nine banks paid out more in bonuses than they received in profit. Cuomo highlighted that if bonuses had any relation to overall performance, the pay levels should have declined in 2007 and 2008. But that wasn’t the case, and several banks continued to increase their compensation even as revenue dropped.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/business/31pay.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exec-pay31-2009jul31,0,4042465.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124896891815094085.html (subscriber content preview)

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‘Cash for clunkers’ program runs out of gas

The Los Angeles Times leads with, and everyone fronts, news that the $1 billion Congress appropriated for the “cash for clunkers” program may have run out in less than a week. The program was designed to increase auto sales by offering vouchers of up to $4,500 to consumers who traded in gas-guzzling vehicles for more fuel-efficient new trucks or cars.

There was lots of confusion last night over whether the “cash for clunkers” program would be suspended. The WP says Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called lawmakers yesterday to warn that the program would end at midnight. USAT confirmed the suspension with the legislative director for the National Automobile Dealers Association. But then, administration officials came out to say that the program was not being suspended. Yet it’s unlikely that dealers will continue to honor the deal until they get assurances from the government that more money is available since they don’t want to get stuck holding the bag. Congress could decide to appropriate more money for the program, but obviously nothing in Washington is that simple, and passing funding bills is often a challenge. Two senators said yesterday that if lawmakers are going to approve more money, they should do so under the condition that the new cars get better fuel economy than required by the original program.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-car-clunkers31-2009jul31,0,7307910.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073004122.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2009-07-30-cash-for-clunkers-program-suspended_N.htm

 

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Routine GI health needs not met

USA Today leads with Army records that show the number of Army medical centers and clinics that can’t provide timely access to routine medical care is the highest in five years, and around 16 percent of patients end up being sent to doctors off-base. Twenty-six of the Army’s medical centers can’t meet the Pentagon standard that requires 90 percent of patients get appointments for routine car within seven days.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-07-30-careaccess_N.htm

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Key Senate Panel Won’t Vote Till Fall

In the continuing fight over health care reform, Sen. Max Baucus said that the finance committee wouldn’t be voting on any legislation before the August recess. Baucus, the committee’s chairman, said he would continue working on the bill next week but couldn’t promise that a draft would be made public before the recess. The NYT notes that two of the top Republican negotiators in the committee vehemently disagree that they’re anywhere near reaching a deal. Republicans have apparently been warning their party’s negotiators in the committee that they might be compromising leadership posts in the future if they make too many concessions to Democrats. Meanwhile, liberal Democrats in the House expressed their anger at the concessions their party leaders have made and threatened to vote against the bill if the public health plan isn’t strengthened in the final version of the legislation.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124896091749093589.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/us/politics/31health.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-health-overhaul31-2009jul31,0,2426079.story

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Industry Is Generous To Influential Bloc

The WP fronts an analysis of campaign-finance data that shows conservative Democrats known as the Blue Dogs typically receive about 25 percent more donations from the health care and insurance sectors than other Democrats. Their pivotal role in shaping legislation has been good to their coffers, as their political action committee has raised more than $1.1 million this year through June, more than half of that money came from health care, insurance, and financial-services industries.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073004267.html

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Health Reform’s Taboo Topic

In the WP‘s op-ed page, Philip Howard, chairman of a legal reform coalition, writes that as lawmakers look for waste in the nation’s health care system, they’re refusing to look at “the erratic, expensive and time-consuming jury-by-jury malpractice system” thanks to the influential trial-lawyers lobby. Pilot programs could be set up to test whether “expert health courts” should replace the system, but lawmakers won’t even consider it even though it could help cut down on “defensive medicine,” a far-too-common practice of ordering unneeded tests and procedures as lawsuit protection. Debating health care without addressing defensive medicine “would be a scandal,” writes Howard, “a willful refusal by Congress to deal with one of the causes of skyrocketing health-care costs.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002816.html

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Over Beers, No Apologies, but Plans to Have Lunch

All the papers front a picture of the hotly anticipated “beer summit” with President Obama, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley. At the last minute, the White House decided to include Vice President Joe Biden, which, as the NYT points out, allowed the administration to “add balance to the photo op that the White House presented: two black guys, two white guys, sitting around a table.” Obama and Biden were dressed “in exaggerated casual attire,” as the WSJ puts it, in order to highlight that this was supposed to be a friendly, happy hour conversation. But the two guests wore ties and dark jackets, despite the heat. A small group of reporters and photographers were allowed to watch the exciting action for only 30 seconds from about 50 feet away. What happened? Not surprisingly, nothing really. They talked, exchanged pleasantries, and no one apologized. But Gates and Crowley did apparently agree to have lunch together soon.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/us/politics/31obama.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124899365578295227.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-beer-summit31-2009jul31,0,1427021.story

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The Gifts of Gaffes

In the Post‘s op-ed page, Michael Kinsley writes that Obama’s “rhetorical goofs” are different from the standard political “gaffe,” which usually involves a politician accidentally telling the truth. Obama’s “goofs” usually are a result of talking before he thinks through everything he wants to say. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t say it. “The more concerned you are to avoid saying anything wrong or offensive,” writes Kinsley, “the less likely you are to say anything inspiring or true.”

The full article reads:

The Gifts of Gaffes

Isn’t it great to have a president who says something foolish or impolitic from time to time?

With his remark that the Cambridge, Mass., police acted “stupidly” in arresting Henry Louis Gates Jr., President Obama managed to extend the story by a week or more and to turn a nice little summer amusement for the political opinion industry into a “teachable moment,” which means something everyone must get serious about. Obama also solidified his reputation as a foot-in-mouther almost as accomplished as his vice president. Before Gates and the police, there was his joke about Nancy Reagan conducting séances in the White House, and then an unfortunate (though very common) use of the Special Olympics as a punch line, and so on.

But Obama’s rhetorical goofs usually are different from Joe Biden’s momentum-mouth, just as they are different from the empty-headed nonsense of George W. Bush and the bizarre country-club-bar chatter of Bush’s father. They are also different from the standard political “gaffe,” which, as we know, is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Obama’s goofs are generally not a result of speaking the truth. They come from thinking things through incompletely. It turns out that the police officer who arrested Skip Gates was not necessarily acting “stupidly” and that Gates might have been doing just that. The president ultimately came up with a typically elegant formulation, describing the episode as a misunderstanding between “two good men.” Wouldn’t it have been better if he had just kept quiet until all the facts were in and all his thoughts were in order?

No, it would not have been better. The media, in their ill-fitting role as guardians of civility, now lecture the president on the special responsibilities of his office. His own aides no doubt shake their heads and tell one another that this is what happens when the man goes “off the reservation” — that is, when he fails to follow the script they have written for him. And of course the Limbaughs and Gingriches of the world are so upset that they can barely contain their delight at having this stick to beat Obama with.

The rituals of umbrage that have become so big a part of our political narrative aren’t just tedious. They do real harm. Very often the offense taken is completely phony, such as during last fall’s campaign when Obama stood accused of insulting Sarah Palin and all of womankind by using the phrase “lipstick on a pig.” Three problems here. First, the whole fuss was stagey and false. Second, it consumed valuable attention when citizens had more important subjects they should have been thinking and talking about. And third, it encouraged further fancied slights.

But even when the remark at issue is genuinely unfortunate and the offense taken isn’t completely imaginary, the fuss is usually excessive and damaging. The people who declare that a president has a special responsibility not to say anything offensive have it wrong. The president has a special responsibility to address important topics and to say important things. That can’t be done in a thin-skinned political culture obsessed with gaffes, and with a citizenry overly quick to take offense.

The more concerned you are to avoid saying anything wrong or offensive, the less likely you are to say anything inspiring or true. We have elected a president with a speculative mind. He wrote a book worth reading — wrote it himself! — even before running for president. It’s interesting to hear what he thinks about various subjects — even those that don’t immediately affect his own presidency. But every teachable episode we put him through teaches him that speculation is risky. And the riskier we make it, the less of it we’re likely to get.

Jokes are a slightly different category, but the dynamic is the same. The more we punish jokes that fall flat, the fewer good ones we’re likely to get. Just as presidents start by chafing at the Secret Service and end up enjoying life inside the cocoon, they start by speaking their minds and gradually learn that it’s safer and easier to live by the Teleprompter.

We complain about politicians who talk in pre-tested and rehearsed sound bites, but we punish anyone who strays too far into his or her own thinking.

Michael Kinsley, Washington Post

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002820.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2224022/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/31/can-clunker-be-saved

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Today’s papers – July 30, 2009

New Poll Finds Growing Unease on Health Plan

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox lead with new polls that show the American public is growing increasingly concerned that an overhaul of health care would have a negative impact in their own lives.

The NYT highlights that the percentage of Americans who describe health care costs as a threat to the economy has gone down in the past month, suggesting that the public isn’t buying one of President Obama’s central arguments for the plan.

The WSJ points out that last month respondents were evenly divided on the merits of the overhaul but now support has declined, particularly among those who are already insured.

The NYT highlights that it seems opponents of health reform have managed to make their portrayal of the plan as a government takeover that would limit choice stick in the minds of the public. And with advertising against the plan set to increase now that lawmakers will head home for their summer break, these ideas are likely to increase. The WSJ notes that administration officials agree they may have misfired a bit by focusing so much on the difficult-to-understand issue of medical costs. Now, Obama is making more of an effort to talk up the consumer-protection rules for insurance companies in order to appeal to those who already have coverage but are afraid of losing it for an arbitrary reason. In the WSJ poll, only 20 percent said they would have better care after the overhaul.

As usual with complicated issues, though, it’s not clear the public really knows what it wants. The WSJ notes that when poll respondents were given details of the proposal, 56 percent said they favored it, while 38 percent opposed it. And the NYT points out that President Obama still has the advantage in winning public support for an overhaul since 49 percent say they support fundamental changes to the system and 66 percent are concerned about losing their own insurance. Respondents also overwhelmingingly—55 percent to 26 percent—think Obama has better ideas on health care than Republicans and is making more of an effort to work in a bipartisan manner.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/us/politics/30poll.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124890178435291341.html

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Lawmakers Cut Health Bills’ Price Tag

The Washington Post leads with, and the Los Angeles Times off-leads, House Democrats reaching an agreement with conservative members of their party that could help health care legislation pass the energy and commerce committee. The agreement seeks to cut more than $100 billion from the bill and would maintain the government-run insurance plan but change the way it operates.

The deal reached between key conservative Democrats and Rep. Henry Waxman would exclude more small businesses from the requirement that they provide health insurance by extending the exemption to companies that have an annual payroll of $500,000 rather than $250,000. The Blue Dog Democrats agreed to maintain a government-run insurance program but only if it’s de-linked from Medicare because of concern that the government would have such a competitive advantage that it would end up driving private insurers out of business. That means the government insurance program would have to negotiate separately with providers. Many Democrats expressed their displeasure at this compromise, particularly since a Blue Dog leader made it clear it was no guarantee that the majority of his caucus would support the legislation. Meanwhile, the Senate’s group of six continues to negotiate, and Sen. Max Baucus said a draft of their reform package would cost $900 billion over a decade, which is slightly less expensive and comes under the psychologically important $1 trillion mark.

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Full article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902027.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-healthcare-house30-2009jul30,0,4349602.story

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Texas Hospital Flexing Muscle in Health Fight

The NYT takes a look at how the physician-owned hospital that became famous when it was featured in a not-so-positive light in a much talked-about New Yorker piece is a key donor to Democratic lawmakers. People affiliated with the Doctors Hospital at Renaissance have been donating big sums to candidates on both sides of the aisle and, so far, seem to be getting pretty much everything they wanted out of the health care debate. It’s a minor issue in a huge piece of legislation, but the question is whether, as the New Yorker article claims, physician-owned hospitals make health care more expensive because doctors are motivated to order unnecessary tests and procedures since they get a share of the hospital’s profits. While it looks like some limits will be imposed on physician-owned hospitals, existing facilities are likely to be allowed to continue as they are.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/us/politics/30mcallen.html

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande

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Would Tax on Benefits Rein In Spending?

In a front-page piece, the WP takes a look at the question of whether Americans spend more on health care because the insurance they get through their employer isn’t taxed. Many have said yes, and taxing at least some health benefits has received broad support. But what the Post calls a “vocal minority” has been eager to say that the ability of taxes to decrease costs has been overstated because consumers mostly just do what their doctors tell them. To these skeptics, “the dispute is a classic clash between economic abstractions and real-world practice,” notes the paper. While in theory it should make sense that people spend more if it’s tax-free, the reality is that the vast majority of people don’t actually consume health care that way.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902035.html

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U.S. shifting drones’ focus to Taliban

The LAT leads with word that the military is shifting some of its Predator drone aircraft away from hunting al-Qaida operatives toward tracking the Taliban and aiding the general war effort in Afghanistan. The scarce drones are one of the military’s “most precious intelligence assets,” and the increased focus on the Taliban shows how U.S. officials now believe that the best way to beat al-Qaida is stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than hunting down individuals, although that will also continue. So more drones will be operated by conventional forces in Afghanistan and focus on tracking movements in insurgent strongholds. “We have been overly counter-terrorism-focused and not counter-insurgency-focused,” said one U.S. official.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-afghanistan30-2009jul30,0,711886.story

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Unpaid property taxes hit localities

USA Today leads with a look at how more Americans are failing to pay their property taxes amid the recession, meaning that many who might have survived the foreclosure wave could eventually lose their homes to tax seizures. There’s no national figure, but many localities have reported a sharp increase in the number of businesses and homeowners who aren’t paying their tax bills at a time when local governments are already strapped for cash.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2009-07-29-delinquent-taxes_N.htm

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Chinese Workers Say Illness Is Real, Not Hysteria

The NYT fronts a fascinating dispatch from an industrial city in northeast China, where more than 1,200 employees at a textile mill have come down with a variety of strange symptoms, including temporary paralysis, convulsions, and vomiting. Workers are convinced they were poisoned by toxic fumes from a nearby factory that produces aniline, a highly toxic chemical. Chinese health officials say this is all just a case of mass hysteria. And when a group of health experts visited a hospital that has been overwhelmed by patients since the factory opened they told bedridden workers to “get a hold of their emotions.” Outside experts say that while it’s possible that panic could lead people to describe symptoms that don’t really exist, it’s exceedingly rare to affect this many people at once. Plus, if this were indeed a case of paranoia to the extreme, the Chinese government is merely fueling the hysteria by being so secretive about everything.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/world/asia/30jilin.html

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House Seems To Be Set on Pork-Padded Defense Bill

When the Senate voted to end the F-22 fighter-jet program, many hoped it could signal the beginning of a new era in defense contracting. But today the WP makes it clear that few things have changed as the House gets ready to vote on a military spending bill that includes at least $6.9 billion of equipment that Defense Secretary Robert Gates says is not needed. The White House is urging lawmakers to take a cue from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and grab a huge knife, but both Republicans and Democrats have proven reluctant to cut lucrative programs for contractors that provide jobs and lots of campaign funds. Almost $3 billion of the extra funds would go to financing earmarks—pet projects demanded by individual lawmakers—and around half of that would go to projects specifically requested by private companies. “Members of Congress should not have the ability to award no-bid contracts,” Rep. Jeff. Flake, R-Ariz., who has long been a critic of earmarks, said.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902676.html

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Iraq in throes of environmental catastrophe, experts say

The LAT takes a look at how the frequent dust storms in Iraq are a sign of how the country is suffering what some are characterizing as “an environmental catastrophe.” Sandstorms are quite common in the region, but a two-year drought, coupled with years of land mismanagement, means there’s dust everywhere, so storms are more frequent and last longer. The problem is so bad that a country once known for its agriculture has to import most of its food, meaning it has less money for reconstruction. “We’re talking about something that’s making the breadbasket of Iraq look like the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma in the early part of the 20th century,” one expert said.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq-dust30-2009jul30,0,3137832.story

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White House ‘Beer Summit’ Becomes Something of a Brouhaha

As Obama prepares to have beers with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and James Crowley, the police sergeant who arrested Gates, the WSJ takes a look at how some aren’t too happy with what they’ll be drinking. There are those who don’t think the president should be promoting alcohol in the first place. Why not just have a friendly conversation over a glass of lemonade or iced tea? But the biggest outcry is coming from brewers. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested that each of the participant’s favorite beers would be on hand: Red Stripe for Gates and Blue Moon for Crowley. The president will be drinking Bud Light. The problem? They’re all made by foreign companies. “We would hope they would pick a family-owned, American beer to lubricate the conversation,” said a spokesman for the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. The head of Harpoon Brewery wanted to get his beer in the White House but didn’t know how. “I think just showing up at the gate with a case of Harpoon would make them look at us funny.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124891169018991961.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2223898/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/30/yahoo-and-microsoft-finally-team

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Today’s papers – July 29, 2009

Recovery Signs in Housing Market Stir Some Hope

The New York Times leads, while the Wall Street Journal and USA Today go high, with new data that suggest there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for the housing market. Eight cities saw increases in real estate prices in May, and an index that tracks home prices in 20 metropolitan areas increased 0.5 percent in May from April. When adjusted for seasonal factors, the index was “virtually flat,” rather than down. These surprisingly strong numbers joined a slew of other indicators that have also shown positive signs in recent months and raised hopes that the housing market has hit bottom.

The positive signs from the residential real estate market hardly mean that everything is great. The Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index rose for the first time in 34 months, but home prices are still down around 17 percent from a year earlier. Prices are still plunging in some of the worst-hit cities, including Las Vegas and San Francisco, and pessimists insist it’s only a matter of time before the upward trend reverses itself, mostly due to rising unemployment. But most economists agree the new data show there has been a “significant change in direction,” as the WSJ puts it. The NYT says buyers are taking advantage of good deals and getting the opportunity to examine properties methodically before finalizing a purchase. But the WSJ says that those in the market for heavily discounted properties frequently find themselves in bidding wars.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/business/economy/29housing.html

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2009-07-28-home-prices_N.htm

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124878477560186517.html (subscriber content preview)

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Sotomayor Moves Closer to High Court

The WSJ leads its world-wide newsbox with the Senate judiciary committee voting 13-6 to send Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate. Only one Republican, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, voted for the nomination.

No one doubts that the Senate will confirm Sotomayor, but, if yesterday’s committee vote is any indication, it won’t be with any help from Republicans. The LAT highlights that the partisan opposition to Sotomayor shows that any future Obama nominees are unlikely to get Republican support “even if they have solid legal credentials and moderate records” and illustrates how filling the high court’s seats has become “a test of party solidarity.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124879689597487171.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-sotomayor29-2009jul29,0,1878930.story

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Senators Close to Health Accord

The Washington Post leads with an overview of where health care legislation stands. The Senate finance committee is expected to finish negotiations in the next few days and vote on a plan before the recess that begins Aug. 7. Assuming the group of six bipartisan senators who are negotiating in the committee can agree on a plan, it will likely end up abandoning many of President Obama’s priorities. And while it may anger most Democrats, it could also make it more difficult for Republicans to resist.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803173.html

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Industry donates to drug plan foes

USAT leads with campaign-finance records showing that the lawmakers who are leading the fight against allowing generic drugs to compete sooner with expensive biotechnology drugs list pharmaceutical companies as one of their biggest contributors. President Obama has proposed that drug companies should have seven years of exclusive rights, but several lawmakers are pushing for 12 years. Cutting the period of exclusivity could save the government billions of dollars in health care costs.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/drugs/2009-07-28-biologics_N.htm

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Schwarzenegger cuts $500 million more as he signs budget

The Los Angeles Times leads with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally signing a budget to close California’s huge deficit, but not before using his line-item veto power to cut $500 million more that will affect children’s health care, AIDS treatment and prevention programs, and the elderly, to name a few programs. Democrats expressed anger over the move, but Schwarzenegger said he had no choice because lawmakers failed to completely close the budget deficit.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-california-budget29-2009jul29,0,7361988.story

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Iraq Raids Camp of Exiles From Iran

The WP is alone in fronting news that Iraqi forces stormed a camp of an Iranian dissident group that had long been protected by the U.S. military. The raid of the camp that housed more than 3,000 people is seen as a stark example of how U.S. influence in Iraq is on the way down while Iranian clout is growing. Analysts say the raid seemed to be a clear attempt by Iraqi officials to assert their independence. The Iranian government had been demanding action for a while, but the United States long protected the group, which has supplied information about Iran’s nuclear program. The raid was violent, and members of the group say Iraqi forces killed four residents. The raid took U.S. officials completely by surprise, particularly since it coincided with a visit by Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072803192.html

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Reports of Prison Abuse and Deaths Anger Iranians

The NYT fronts, and everyone else goes inside with, the Iranian government releasing 140 prisoners at a time when a growing number of accounts of abuse and torture in the country’s prisons have outraged many. Relatives of the imprisoned are speaking out, as are some of the protesters who have been released in the past few weeks. Independent human rights organizations say more than 1,000 people have been arrested and almost 100 killed in the postelection violence. More violence is expected Thursday as the government refused permission for the opposition to hold a ceremony in honor of those killed. But opposition supporters quickly began circulating plans to commemorate the symbolically important 40 days since the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, among others who were killed in the June 20 demonstrations.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/world/middleeast/29iran.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124882798823088671.html

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Iran hard-liners warn Ahmadinejad he could be deposed

The LAT highlights more evidence of divisions within Iran’s conservative circles after a group of hard-liners warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that he could be deposed.

The full article reads:

Iran hard-liners warn Ahmadinejad he could be deposed

The warning over the president’s defiance highlights the rift among Iran’s conservatives. Meanwhile, the government says Mousavi supporters can’t gather at a mosque Thursday to honor protest victims.

Political hard-liners warned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday that he could be deposed like past Iranian leaders if he continued to defy the country’s supreme religious leader.

The implied threat was the latest evidence of the rift within Iran’s conservative camp and could serve to further sap the authority of a president already considered illegitimate by reformists.

The Islamic Society of Engineers, a political group close to parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, warned in an open letter to Ahmadinejad that he could suffer the same fate as Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who was deposed in 1953 in a CIA-backed coup with the acquiescence of the clergy.

The letter also cites the experience of President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr, who was ousted in 1981 and fled the country after he fell out with the Islamic Republic’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Both leaders had been elected by huge margins.

“It seems you want to be the sole speaker and do not want to hear other voices,” the group’s letter says, noting that recent actions by Ahmadinejad have frustrated his own supporters. “Therefore it is our duty to convey to you the voice of the people.”

Meanwhile, Iranians braced for another round of clashes between protesters and security personnel after the Interior Ministry rejected a request to allow supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi to gather at a large Tehran mosque on Thursday. The protest is meant to commemorate those slain in the unrest that followed Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection victory over Mousavi and two other challengers in June 12 balloting.

In response to the permit denial, Mousavi’s supporters began circulating routes for unauthorized marches and candlelight vigils to mark the religiously significant 40th day after the deaths of those killed at June 20 demonstrations, including Neda Agha-Soltan, whose slaying, captured on videotape, drew worldwide condemnation.

Dozens have been killed since the election and hundreds arrested, most recently including Ali Maqami, a campaigner for reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who was arrested at his home Monday and taken to Tehran’s Evin Prison, news websites reported.

Lawmaker Kazem Jalali said 140 prisoners arrested during the unrest had since been released and that only 200 remained in Evin, far below the number estimated by international observers.

“Those who were released had committed lighter offenses,” he said, according to the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency.

Human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr was freed Tuesday on $500,000 bail, according to reformist websites.

But other well-known Iranian political figures remained behind bars.

Officials said supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday ordered the closure of the Kahrizak detention center, described by some as Iran’s Guantanamo because it was not under the control of the State Prisons Organization. According to a reformist website, it has been supervised by deputy national police chief and former Revolutionary Guard commander Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan. Witnesses told Mowjcamp.com that the facility lacked proper ventilation and that prisoners were beaten by ruthless interrogators.

“The closure of Kahrizak detention center had been decided before the election, but postelection events made it necessary to keep it open,” Iran’s prosecutor-general, Qorban Ali Dori-Najafabadi, told local news media. “Finally, the supreme leader was informed of poor sanitation and other problems for detainees, and he ordered its closure.”

Amid the uproar, Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to the judiciary demanding “maximum Muslim leniency” toward those detained, acknowledging that the “duration of the detentions has been more than normal,” a striking departure from the government’s insistence all along that detainees were well treated.

While Ahmadinejad’s reelection has angered supporters of the opposition, his postelection actions have also enraged fellow conservatives, in particular his attempts to buck Khamenei’s order to dump a controversial vice president and his firing of Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei. “His reckless actions indicate quite well that the president does not understand what security challenges we are grappling with,” lawmaker Parviz Sorouri told the Mehr news agency.

Conservatives are also bothered by Ahmadinejad’s push to broadcast the confessions of detainees, local media reported.

His supporters see airing the confessions as a way to discredit and silence reformists and protesters, a tactic used extensively by hard-liners in the early 1980s.

But conservatives say televised confessions could prove politically explosive and appear dangerously out of step with the national mood. Several local news outlets said Mohseni-Ejei, along with state television chief Ezatollah Zarghami, clergy and judiciary officials, has been locked in a backroom fight with Ahmadinejad over the airing of such confessions.

Over the weekend, one lawmaker sternly warned authorities not to broadcast confessions obtained in prison.

“Broadcasting confessions can only add to public awareness if they are made under normal conditions, not if they are extracted under irregular circumstances,” Ali Motahari told Press TV, according to an article on the website of the state-owned broadcaster. “The arrests may have been legal, but the important thing is how individuals were treated during interrogation, whether Islamic code was maintained, and whether they suffered any emotional, psychological or physical pressure or not.”

Human rights groups and former prisoners say authorities typically extract the videotaped confessions after holding detainees in solitary confinement or following grueling interrogations that sometimes include physical abuse. The prisoners are often told what to read. In recent years, many said during the interrogations that they were foreign dupes, only to disavow the remarks later.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran29-2009jul29,0,484157.story

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How Firms Wooed a U.S. Agency With Billions to Invest

The NYT got a look at internal documents, including e-mails, that show how BlackRock and Goldman Sachs were so eager to get a piece of the action from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation that they may have broken contracting rules. When Charles Millard became the head of the agency that oversees the retirement funds of bankrupt companies, Goldman and BlackRock began working their lobbying skills. Millard also used his position to set up meetings and interviews that could help him land a job once he left public service. The agency revoked the contracts last week due to questions surrounding the bidding process. The records reviewed by the paper “illustrate the clash between Washington’s by-the-letter rules on contracting and the culture of Wall Street, where deals are often struck over expensive meals,” notes the paper. “Both sides should have known better,” said a contracting expert. “What happened here is wrong, stupid and probably illegal.”

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Full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/business/29pensions.html

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Microsoft, Yahoo Near Search Deal

At long last, Microsoft and Yahoo appear on the brink of joining forces on a major Internet search alliance, thinking two is better than one if they are to challenge the mighty Google. The business press is united in declaring Microsoft the clear victor in this deal. As the Wall Street Journal writes, “Microsoft, which last year made a failed $47.5 billion takeover bid for Yahoo, would finally win what it wanted most from the Internet pioneer—huge volumes of queries that run through Yahoo’s search engine.” Business Week puts it more bluntly, writing Yahoo “gives up on search” by falling into Microsoft’s arms. Giving a nod to the WSJ‘s scoop on the imminent deal, Business Week provides the following analysis (or is it an obituary?) on the once-dominant Yahoo’s long fall from the top: “In a deal that presages its departure from a market it once dominated, Yahoo will essentially scrap its own efforts to best Google in search and instead rely on Microsoft’s recently debuted Bing search engine,” the magazine writes. Meanwhile, Kara Swisher in the WSJ’s “All Things Digital” blog writes that the Microsoft-Yahoo deal will be announced as soon as today. She explains the division of labor as such: Microsoft’s search technology will be featured on its sites and on Yahoo’s, while Yahoo’s ad sales team will sell the space to advertisers.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124882112916088137.html (subscriber content preview)

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jul2009/tc20090728_826397.htm

http://kara.allthingsd.com/20090728/microsoft-yahoo-deal-struck-will-be-announced-within-next-24-hours/

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At Worlds, ‘It’s Not About the Swimmer’

German Paul Biedermann rocked the swimming world yesterday when he beat Michael Phelps in the 200-meter freestyle with a time of 1 minute 42 seconds, 0.89 under Phelps’ world record. He beat Phelps by 1.22 yesterday. But the big focus wasn’t on Biedermann, who had earlier broken a seven-year-old record by 0.01 of a second, but his swimsuit. Biedermann even acknowledged that he was helped by his speedsuit but said it wasn’t his problem because the sport’s governing body, FINA, had allowed it. FINA has been working on implementing guidelines but yesterday said they may not go into effect until next spring. Phelps’ coach, Bob Bowman, practically went ballistic and threw a diva-sized rant. “Well, then, they can probably expect Michael not to swim until they’ve implemented it,” he said. “The sport is in shambles right now, and they better do something or they’re going to lose their guy who fills these seats.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072802880.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/sports/29swim.html

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Cheers: ‘True Blood,’ the Beverage

In terrible news for anyone who has trouble distinguishing between reality and a fantasy world where sexy vampires roam the streets of New Orleans, but potentially exciting news for anyone living who would want to consume a beverage intended for the undead, a carbonated drink based on the HBO series “True Blood” is to go on sale in September. In a news release on Monday, Omni Consumer Products said that it had struck a deal with HBO’s licensing division to produce Tru Blood, inspired by the drink that the program’s vampires consume for sustenance (when they’re not feeding on the living). In a statement, the company said that its Tru Blood drink would have “a crisp, slightly tart and lightly sweet tang,” and come in a bottle similar to the one featured on the HBO series.

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The full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/arts/television/29arts-TRUEBLOODTHE_BRF.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2223828/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/29/micro-hoo

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Today’s papers – July 28, 2009

Iran opposition leader calls for more street protests

The Los Angeles Times leads with Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iran’s opposition leader, calling for street protests during religious festivities that will take place over several days next week. It marked the first time that Mousavi has explicitly called on supporters to take to the streets since dozens were killed last month in a series of post-election protests. The potential for violence during a new round of protests is also great, particularly considering that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set to be sworn in for a second term right around that time. The LAT says that Mousavi’s call for new protests shows how the former prime minister “is growing” into becoming the leader of a youth-based reform movement.

And while the post-election dispute in Iran has mostly been out of the front pages lately, Mousavi’s provocative move also comes at a time when several Iranian leaders, including some conservatives, have publicly voiced their outrage over the security crackdown against protesters and the substandard conditions at the prisons where they are being held. Several conservative lawmakers decided to speak out after an outbreak of meningitis at Iran’s notorious Evin Prison apparently killed the son of a prominent scientist who was an aide to a conservative presidential candidate. Iran’s supreme leader has even gotten in on the act, closing a substandard prison facility, while the head of the judiciary said Tehran’s prosecutor has a week to decide the fate of those detained after the elections.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-protests28-2009jul28,0,3987567.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072702541.html

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Landowners Still in Exile From Unstable Pakistan Area

The New York Times leads with a look at how the wealthy landowners of the Swat Valley are refusing to return to their homes even as hundreds of thousands of others make their way back to the region, where the Pakistani military has been fighting Taliban militants.

Before the military moved in, the Taliban got much of its support in the Swat Valley by stirring up a class struggle. Militants would effectively target landowners and then share profits with the landless peasants, who sometimes signed up to fight with the militants. Now that many are making their way back to Swat, even as the militants remain active, some think the Taliban will simply divide up the land and hand out pieces to the peasants, automatically creating a huge base of support. Most worryingly, this could potentially expand to Punjab, Pakistan’s most populated province, where militants are gaining power.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/world/asia/28swat.html

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Core Issues Still Divide Democrats in the House

The Wall Street Journal leads its world-wide newsbox with the diminishing prospects that Democratic leaders will get their wish of voting for a health care bill in the House this week before lawmakers go on break. House Democrats remain divided on key issues, including how to pay for the legislation.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124873873773385241.html

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Health Policy Now Carved Out at a More Centrist Table

Democratic leaders tried to build up momentum for the health care legislation by focusing on insurance companies and their huge profits. But as the debate drags on, all eyes remain fixed on the Senate finance committee and the efforts of its chairman, Max Baucus, to write a bipartisan bill. The NYT writes that that the “fate of the health care overhaul largely rests on the shoulders of six senators” who have been gathering in Baucus’ office, where they eat unhealthy snacks while discussing the nation’s health. The deal looks close, but it won’t include a government-run insurance plan and instead would expand health insurance coverage through a network of nonprofit cooperatives. The group of senators is also unlikely to support the idea of a surtax on wealthy Americans to pay for the bill or the requirement that employers offer coverage to their workers.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/us/politics/28baucus.html

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S.C. Senator Is a Voice Of Reform Opposition

The WP off-leads a profile of Republican Sen. Jim DeMint from South Carolina who has fashioned himself as a leader in the fight against overhauling the health care industry. He famously said Republicans could turn health care into Obama’s “Waterloo,” which was seized by Democrats as an example of how Republicans are trying to kill reform. GOP leaders have tried to distance themselves from DeMint, saying they’re not opposed to reform as a whole, just to the Democratic proposals. But DeMint is unapologetic and has seen his popularity grow in conservative circles.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072703066.html

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Cost of treating obese patients soars to $147 billion

USA Today leads with a new study that says medical spending on conditions related to obesity reached $147 billion in 2008, double what it was a decade ago. As a whole, obese patients spend around 42 percent more in medical bills than those at a normal weight. Treating obesity has become more expensive in large part because the percentage of adults who are obese has increased from 23 percent in 1994 to 34 percent in 2006.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-07-27-costofobesity_N.htm

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Foreclosures Are Often In Lenders’ Best Interest

The Washington Post leads with a look at how government efforts to stop foreclosures aren’t having as much effect as expected because it can often be more profitable for lenders to let a home go into foreclosure. Lenders are reluctant to modify loans for those who are likely to fall behind again on payments and for those who are able to sacrifice and make the payments one way or another. Industry leaders are set to meet with administration officials today to discuss how to prevent more foreclosures.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072703065.html

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Small Banks at Center of Overhaul Debate

While a few of the nation’s big banks have taken most of the blame for the economic crisis, plans to overhaul the financial industry may depend on thousands of small banks, the Washington Post reports. Each of the 8,000 U.S. community banks may be small on its own, but together they represent a “powerful lobbying force” with something that the “sullied banks of Wall Street” lack—a good reputation. “The larger financial institutions have the opposite of political clout today. They’re radioactive,” Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts told the paper, “The only way the big banks can win is if they get the community banks to be their troops.” So far, small banks have spoken out mostly in opposition to new regulations. Community bankers are quick to point out that they didn’t cause the current crisis, though they’ve been told by those in favor of more regulations that the new rules aren’t “aimed at them” but at the larger firms whose risky practices helped bring about the meltdown.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072702191.html

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Traders Blamed for Oil Spike

The WSJ fronts word that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will be releasing a report next month suggesting that speculators are partly to blame for the roller coaster oil prices. This would mark a reversal for the main U.S. futures-market regulator that issued a report last year that said the price swings were mainly the result of supply and demand. One CFTC commissioner says that report was based on “deeply flawed data.” The paper says this new analysis “reflects shifting political winds” now that Obama has appointed a new chairman who seems determined to shift the commission away from the “hands-off approach” of the Bush years.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124874574251485689.html (subscriber content preview)

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U.S.-China Meeting Renews the Dialogue

The Washington Post reports that Chinese officials heard “reassuring” words yesterday on day one of the U.S.-China talks taking place in D.C. this week. They were told that the dollar is still sound and that their investments in the United States are safe. Beijing is the largest single investor in U.S. Treasury bonds, so its stake has been “critical” to Obama’s efforts to improve the U.S. economy through deficit spending. Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, who oversees foreign policy, noted that the economic crisis has overshadowed some of the substantial differences between the two countries and highlighted that “we are actually all in the same big boat that has been hit by fierce wind and huge waves.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/27/AR2009072700937.html

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Gates arrest a delicate matter to hash out over beer

The LAT takes a look at the upcoming “beer summit” that will take place Thursday now that both Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge, Mass., Police Department and Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. accepted Obama’s offer to discuss the professor’s arrest over a beer at the White House. Administration officials are understandably trying to play down the meeting that “has given new definition to diplomatic mission.” Black leaders have made it clear they won’t be happy if this just turns into a photo-op and Obama doesn’t seize the opportunity to take on the larger issue of racial profiling.

Meanwhile, the 911 call that led to Crowley arriving at Gates’ home was released yesterday and raised new questions. The caller didn’t identify either man that entered the home as black, and even suggested they might have just been having “a hard time with their key.” The caller stayed there until Crowley arrived. Later, Crowley wrote that the caller had told him she saw “what appeared to be two black males with backpacks,” but the caller’s lawyer denies she ever mentioned race.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-gates28-2009jul28,0,5578765.story

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/28/us/28gates.html

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Insider Affair: An SEC Trial of the Heart

The WSJ‘s Dennis Berman has a little gem of a story that could very well be called Desperate Housewives: Wall Street about an Ernst & Young partner who was convicted on six counts of securities fraud earlier this year and how he was convicted with the help of testimony from a lover. James Gansman met a Phildaelphia woman, Donna Murdoch, on a Web site for people who want to have extramarital affairs. Gansman and Murdoch began an intense love affair that involved luxury hotels and more than 7,000 phone calls over two years. Gansman worked on huge deals and would often brag about the ones that appeared in the news but gradually got bolder and began leading Murdoch in guessing game that can only really be described as financier pillow talk. “The game was that I wouldn’t be looking and he would give me hints: The market cap of two billion or market cap of 400 billion, and here’s what they do, and he’d read it to me, and ultimately make sure I guessed,” Murdoch testified. Faced with a lot of debt, Murdoch began to use this information with the help of another man she met on the same affair-seeking Web site. Of course, neither of the men knew about the other. “This is how life really happens,” writes Berman, “and how it gradually, almost unexpectedly, can veer out of control.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124873671770285097.html (subscriber content preview)

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Full article and photo: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/ED-AJ892_PNS072_NS_20090727200319.gif

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2223737/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/28/small-banks-flex-their-muscles

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Today’s papers – July 27, 2009

The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal‘s world-wide newsbox all lead with the health care debate. as Democratic leaders push to make progress on legislation before lawmakers leave Washington for the August recess.

Reach of Subsidies Is Critical Issue for Health Plan

The NYT takes a look at the health-insurance mandate and whether the subsidies currently in discussion would really be enough to help families with modest incomes obtain coverage. Those who could show financial hardship would be exempted from the requirement to carry insurance, but that could translate into a substantial number of people remaining uninsured.

Some analysts say the subsidies included in the bills that are making their way through Congress are nowhere near enough to help families of modest means obtain even the cheapest health insurance. But as lawmakers struggle to keep down the costs, they are unlikely to want to make the subsidies more generous. In the bills currently being discussed, a family could be required to pay as much as 12.5 percent of its income on health insurance. On top of that, families might have to spend thousands more in out-of-pocket costs.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/health/policy/27health.html

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Pelosi Vows Passage of Health-Care Overhaul

The WP highlights House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s optimism that, despite the intraparty squabbling, the House will approve health care legislation, though she refused to commit to a timetable.

Pelosi is planning to restart discussions with Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where health legislation stalled last week. But the Post says some of the recently elected lawmakers “are suffering from political fatigue,” particularly after the fight over the cap-and-trade system. When the climate-change bill passed it was seen as a huge victory for Pelosi, but now some worry that controversial vote may have put health care legislation in danger since moderate Democrats are reluctant to go out on a limb again before the recess.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602856.html

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‘Blue Dog’ Democrats Hold Health-Care Overhaul at Bay

The WSJ takes a look at the so-called Blue Dog Democrats, who continue to raise objections to the health legislation, as one of its leaders said he doesn’t expect the House will vote on a bill before Labor Day.

The WSJ points out that Blue Dog Democrats “have emerged as pivotal players in the national health-care debate” and that the White House has been working particularly hard to get these fiscally conservative lawmakers onboard. Their power became evident last week when “they humiliated California Rep. Henry Waxman,” notes the paper. Many Democrats have expressed frustration with the Blue Dogs but know they can’t afford to lose a group that accounts for about one-fifth of House Democrats.

The NYT‘s Paul Krugman writes that even if Obama wanted to give the conservative Democrats everything they want, he can’t, “because the Blue Dogs aren’t making sense.” The Blue Dogs are constantly complaining about how much the legislation would cost while also “making demands that would greatly increase that cost.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124865363472782519.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/opinion/27krugman.html

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Idea to Tax Insurers on their Most-expensive Policies Is Gaining Traction

The WSJ also mentions that as lawmakers continue to look for ways to pay for the health care overhaul, the idea of taxing insurance firms on their most expensive policies “appears to be gaining momentum.”

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124863649016781945.html

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Reviews prompt suspension of Iraqi jobs program

USA Today leads with news that the U.S. Agency for International Development has suspended a program to provide jobs to Iraqis due to evidence of fraud. The $644-million Community Stabilization Program has received much praise since it was launched in 2006, but there are claims that millions of dollars might have gone to insurgents and corrupt leaders as well as nonexistent projects.

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2009-07-26-usaid-jobs_N.htm

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Sarah Palin hands over power in Alaska

The Los Angeles Times leads locally but goes high with Sarah Palin officially stepping down as Alaska governor yesterday and handing power over to Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. Standing with her husband and two of their daughters, Palin criticized those who questioned her decision to step down 18 months before the end of her term. “It should be so obvious to you,” she said. “It is because I love Alaska this much, sir, that I feel that it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical politics-as-usual lame-duck session in one’s last year in office.”

As Palin stepped down from the governor’s office, she found time to criticize the media one last time and asked them to “quit making things up.” She didn’t say what her next step would be, beyond stating that not being in office would allow her to “fight even harder for you, for what is right.” The WP wonders whether she has “a second act in her repertoire” and notes that those “who have some insight into her frame of mind” say she doesn’t really have a plan for what to do over the next few months, let alone a grand plan for raising her political profile within the GOP.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-palin-farewell27-2009jul27,0,970489.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602580.html

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Pakistan helps U.S. search for captured soldier

The LAT fronts word that Pakistan and the United States are sharing intelligence and cooperating in military operations to a degree not seen in years. Pakistani officials are increasingly informing Afghanistan and the United States about operations along the border to get help in trapping militants. Pakistan is also apparently providing intelligence help to the United States as the search for Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, who was captured June 30, continues, although American officials disagree on the value of the information.

The LAT says that part of the reason Pakistan is more willing to cooperate with the United States is the “military’s recent success” in the Swat Valley. But the success may have been short-lived. The WSJ reports that Taliban militants have re-emerged in the area as refugees start going back. The paper cautions that this uptick in violence could be “the last gasp of a dying insurgency” but it still shows how the Swat Valley offensive “remains far from complete,” despite the fact that the military said the valley was secure two weeks ago.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-afghan27-2009jul27,0,1817847.story

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124860097152481663.html

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Loans Shrink as Fear Lingers

The WSJ leads off its business coverage today with fresh concerns about the still anemic flow of credit that is weighing down the economy. The paper puts it bluntly, writing, “[B]ankers and borrowers refrain from taking risks, in a bearish sign for the economy.” The newspaper’s research indicates that loan reserves held by 15 large banks shrank last quarter by 2.8 percent, “and more than half of the loan volume in April and May came from refinancing mortgages and renewing credit to businesses, not new loans.” The findings suggest that borrowers are putting off expansion and reinvesting in the operation while lenders are hoarding capital as insurance against still more dubious loans on their books.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124865259057482435.html (subscriber content preview)

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Bernanke Feared a Second Great Depression

Speaking at a public forum that will air this week on PBS, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that while he was “disgusted” by the circumstances that led him to push for a rescue of companies that acted recklessly, he had no choice. “I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression,” he said.

Although Bernanke really didn’t give any new information, answering questions directly from the public was “the latest unusual forum where the Fed chairman has explained his actions in recent months,” as the WSJ puts it. His predecessors have usually been much more reluctant to talk in public, but Bernanke wants to send the message that the “central bank is here to help, and it is not as mysterious or menacing as people might think,” declares the NYT in a front-page piece. Coincidentally, Bernanke’s term expires in January, and it is still not clear whether Obama will reappoint him to serve another four years.

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Full article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124865498517982625.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/business/27bernanke.html

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Arm the Senate!

The WP‘s E.J. Dionne Jr. writes that “senators who regularly express their undying loyalty to the National Rifle Association … should practice what they preach.” If they really do believe that the best way to protect Americans against crime is to make sure citizens can carry concealed weapons, then they should take down the metal detectors at the Capitol. “If the NRA’s servants in Congress don’t take their arguments seriously enough to apply them to their own lives, maybe the rest of us should do more to stop them from imposing their nonsense on our country.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/26/AR2009072602189.html

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Tracking deliveries of all kinds is on everyone’s radar

USAT takes a look at how the United States “is becoming a nation of track-a-holics” as more companies allow customers to track the whereabouts of flights, buses, packages, and even pizzas, to name a few. And it’s not just products. Parents can use a Web site to keep track of their infant’s habits to detect patterns. This obsession may ultimately have to do with people’s desire to feel like they have some sense of control. “I’d much rather know if I’m secure in my job,” a sociologist tells the paper. “But if I can’t know that, at least I can know the status of my pizza.”

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Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2009-07-26-pizza-products-tracking_N.htm

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2223659/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/27/bernanke-drops-d-bomb

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Today’s papers – July 26, 2009

Focus on Health Savings Obscures Other Issues

The Washington Post leads with a look at the evolving debate over health care reform. While previous reform efforts referred to providing universal coverage as a moral issue, President Barack Obama is instead focusing on reining in the burgeoning cost of care. Now some experts worry that all this focus on cost may backfire because the little administrative cuts being proposed fail to address more systemic problems with our health care system.

On the flip side of the health care debate, the WP points out in its off-lead story that as medical costs have grown over the years, treatment has become much more effective. For common problems like heart disease, treatment options and survival rates are dramatically higher than they were 50 years ago, but that care has also become dramatically more expensive. The paper wonders aloud whether continued advances in care will devour any savings created by a health care reform bill.

The NYT takes a different tack, focusing on the political concerns that are driving the health care policy debate. The paper posits that President Obama now has a choice: Will he work with the handful of moderate Republicans remaining in the Senate to fashion a slightly more bipartisan bill? Or will he try to build Democratic cohesion around the measure and ram a health reform bill down the GOP’s throat? Analysts and members say the costs could be huge either way, as the bill will be seen either as divisive and partisan or as watered down by compromise.

While the debate wears on in Washington, the senator most associated with expanding health care coverage is being forced to sit this one out, reports the LAT. Although Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., hasn’t been able to take a hand in shaping the bill due to a brain tumor, his illness has made him something of a symbol for the cause of reform. The paper reports that colleagues are rushing to complete the bill so that Kennedy will live long enough to vote for it.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/business/?nid=top_business

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/25/AR2009072502381.html?sid=ST2009072600012

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/us/politics/26partisan.html

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-kennedy26-2009jul26,0,3833491.story

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State budget negotiations were anything but smooth

The Los Angeles Times leads with an inside look at the deal-making and petty squabbles that turned the state legislature’s last-minute work on a budget bill into “a slow-moving train wreck.”

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-legislature26-2009jul26,0,6168545.story

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Antitrust Chief Hits Resistance in Crackdown

The Obama administration’s antitrust division is keeping itself busy these days in efforts to reign in various major industries from railroad giants to food processors. Because the officials have stepped up enforcement, the New York Times reports, they’re facing resistance even from within the administration. One argument against the crackdown is that it’s ill-timed, as corporate America has yet to recover from the recession. Recently, the Transportation Department turned down recommendations from the antitrust division and, instead, approved an antitrust immunity request involving global airlines. According to the paper, “The antitrust division argued the immunity was unnecessary for approving the newly reconstituted alliance and that it could lead to rates rising from 6 to 15 percent for many routes, according to public filings. The Transportation Department rejected that analysis for most of the routes and instead endorsed a policy popular during the Bush administration that favored such industry agreements out of a desire for efficiency.”

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/business/26antitrust.html

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An Abortion Battle, Fought to the Death

The NYT fronts an interesting take on the life and death of abortion practitioner and activist Dr. George Tiller. The paper posits that even though pro-choice advocates have lost a powerful friend, anti-abortion groups were harder hit by his murder. Anti-abortion activists say that with Tiller’s death, they’ve lost a big draw for support and his violent death has driven some moderates from their ranks.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/us/26tiller.html

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After Arrest, Cambridge Reflects on Racial Rift

The WP fronts another look at the arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The paper considers President Obama’s role in the ensuing racial dialogue and what (if anything) can be done to address concerns about racial profiling.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/25/AR2009072502177.html

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Digital Nomads Choose Their Tribes

From the Washington Post comes a story of the rise of the “digital nomad.” As companies more regularly allow or insist that workers telecommute nowadays, more people are leaving their homes and seeking out new places to work. From coffee shops to hotel lobbies, as long as there is a wireless signal, these locations can serve as a workplace. According to the story, “Nomads who want the feel of working with officemates have begun co-working in public places or at the homes of strangers. They work laptop-by-laptop in living rooms and coffee shops, exchanging both idle chitchat and business advice with people who all work for different companies.”

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/25/AR2009072500878.html

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Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man

Worried that super-intelligent robots will someday become our masters? Chuckle if you like, but the idea of independent machine intelligence is rapidly moving out of the realm of the Hollywood blockbuster, according to the NYT. Experts say robots will soon be able to navigate, refuel and kill humans at their own discretion. Ethicists say guidelines for handling advanced machine intelligence need to be developed now, before the problem grows out of control.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/science/26robot.html

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Squatters in paradise say it’s job from hell

Philippine air force personnel unload supplies for inhabitants of isolated Pagasa Island in the South China Sea. “The happiest day on Pagasa is when the boat comes to take you off,” says one former resident.

The LAT fronts a feature on Filipino settlers on an island in the hotly contested Spratly archipelago. While the government in Manila is eager to safeguard its claim to the island’s natural resources, most of the volunteer residents are desperate to leave, saying the tiny, isolated island brings on feelings of despair and loneliness.

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Full article and photo: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-paradise-prison26-2009jul26,0,7243566.story

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In France, Chinese Swoop In To Buy Stake in Savoir-Faire

Cardinal Richelieu established Chateau Richelieu in 1632. Its history and local lore drew interest from Chinese investors, who bought it last month.

It would be hard to find anything more rooted in France than Chateau Richelieu.

King Louis XIII’s minister, Cardinal Richelieu, bought the prestigious vineyard in 1632 and installed his favorite mistress in the chateau. A generation later, the wines of Fronsac, Chateau Richelieu prominently among them, became standard fare for feasts at Versailles under Louis XIV. Ever since, Chateau Richelieu and its ancient heritage have been a pride of the Fronsac region, which runs along the Dordogne River 20 miles northeast of Bordeaux.

But times have changed, even in Fronsac. Chinese real estate investors based in Hong Kong and Beijing plopped down a small fortune last month and bought the place up — vineyard, chateau and pedigree included.

The deal was the second such purchase in just over a year. Another Chinese company, this one based in Qingdao, gobbled up Chateau Latour-Laguens, just south of here, in early 2008. It has since launched a multimillion-dollar renovation aimed at turning the middling wine into a high-end marque and the 500-year-old chateau into a destination for well-heeled Chinese wedding parties.

In both cases, according to specialists involved in the negotiations, the Chinese buyers sought precisely what France is richest in: history, elegance, tradition and savoir-faire. The new generation of wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs in effect came to France to buy a piece of the class, bloodline and heritage that were uprooted in their own country by the communism of Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution.

“The ancestry consideration, it was something that really counted for them,” said Sophie Roussov, a wine marketing specialist hired by Longhai International Trading Co. of Qingdao to manage Chateau Latour-Laguens and its renovation. “If they were interested in this chateau, it was because it has a long history.”

Not to mention that it looked like a good way to make money.

In both cases, winemakers reported, the Chinese investors have laid plans to market the pedigree of their newly acquired Bordeaux wines to the nouveaux riches back home. Local realtors estimated the purchase prices at several million dollars each. But with 1.3 billion consumers in a China that is just starting to get reacquainted with the finer things in life, including wine, Chinese getting a foothold in Bordeaux have concluded there is gold in the green bottles soon to be shipped to the other side of the world.

So much so, said Stephane Toutounji, a winemaking consultant, that a third Chinese company is reported to be sniffing around Bordeaux looking for a chateau to buy.

For many producers here, the investors and particularly the potential consumers of China have come to represent a new horizon, perhaps a source of wealth that will pull the region out of a slump brought on by overheated prices, competition from New World wines and the global recession.

“China is the future,” Roussov predicted.

Surprisingly, in a country often jealous of its patrimony, the Chinese incursion has not generated any protests of note, local producers said. A few small-scale vintners have grumbled, they said, but mainline winemakers and merchants have so far regarded the Chinese buyers as an opportunity rather than a threat.

In part, this is because Bordeaux has long been fertile terrain for foreign involvement. Aquitaine, the historical region that includes Bordeaux wine country, at one time belonged to the English crown. Dutch and British businessmen and engineers participated in its early economic development. British drinkers eager for claret have long been good customers. And despite a culture heavy in tradition, Bordeaux wine chateaux have been willing targets of foreign buyers for years.

“Here as a foreigner, you feel like a fish in water,” said Arjen Pen, a Dutch national and former airline executive who was the principal investor in Chateau Richelieu until its sale to A & A International Group, a Hong Kong-based holding company whose owners spend most of their time in Beijing.

For instance, when Latour-Laguens went up for sale, a Luxembourg countess, a Belgian investor and a Maltese businessman were Longhai’s main competitors, Daniel Carmagnat, a local real estate executive, told Le Figaro newspaper. More than half the sales of Bordeaux chateaux in recent times have gone to foreigners, he added.

In addition, both Chinese companies moving into Bordeaux hired experienced local specialists to guide them in the sale and in planning for renovations and operations.

Toutounji, for instance, has been retained as an oenology consultant for both chateaux. Pen said he has been asked to stay on as manager until the end of the year, and perhaps beyond. Roussov, who has a long history in the Bordeaux wine world, said she has “almost carte blanche” to develop the wine and restore the run-down Chateau Latour-Laguens without damaging its historical cachet.

To help her run the chateau, she has hired Jean-Claude Canu, whose father worked the vineyard before him. Since then, Canu’s son, Nicolas, has also signed on in what Roussov expressed hope will be a continuation of the line.

Longhai International was represented in the purchase by a young Chinese woman, Cheng Haiyan, who is a daughter of the firm’s chairman, Cheng Zuochang. Her mandate, Roussov said, was first to buy a chateau with personality and pedigree, then to organize production of a top-drawer wine for export to China.

The now dowdy chateau and its 75 acres of vineyard had been in the Laguens family for several generations, making 150,000 bottles a year of a wine that earned only the appellation of Bordeaux or Bordeaux superieur. But Cheng seemed uninterested in gaining a more prestigious regional appellation, such as Fronsac or nearby St. Emillion, to which French consumers attach great importance.

Since taking possession of the chateau, Longhai has named a hotel after it in Qingdao and launched a chain of wine bars with the same name, Roussov said. Almost all the 2007 production was exported to Qingdao and plans are for 2008 to follow the same path.

When the chateau is renovated, Roussov said, plans call for it to be used as a hotel for high-end tourism and weddings, particularly for Chinese. Pen said the Chateau Richelieu buyers have made similar plans, perhaps expanding the chateau’s five-room bed-and-breakfast business into a full-fledged hotel.

The wine, 70,000 bottles a year from 42 acres of grapes, is already considered one of the best in the Fronsac appellation, with 93 points from widely followed critic Robert Parker. But the woman who made the purchase on behalf of the A & A holding, identified as Mrs. An, seemed particularly interested in its historical heritage during negotiations that ran over eight months, he added.

She sought documents that would back up local lore saying Charlemagne had a castle just up the hill in the 8th century and that the chateau’s top-of-the-line wine, La Favorite, was named for a woman who, as Richelieu’s favorite mistress, really lived in the chateau in the 17th century. When the documents proved hard to round up, Pen said, he had the Fronsac mayor draft a historical account of the chateau topped with an official seal from City Hall, which did the trick.

One of her first decisions, Pen recalled, was to order a change in the modern-looking Chateau Richelieu bottle label that had been redesigned several years ago. In its place, An decided to return to an old-style label with prominent mention of the year 1632, the year of Cardinal Richelieu’s purchase.

“She’s really into tradition,” Pen said.

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Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/25/AR2009072502382.html

Photo: http://www.balkantravellers.com/images/stories/food/chateau-richelieu.jpg

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Iraq Veterans Find Afghan Enemy Even Bolder

Sgt. Jacob Tambunga, with Nawa residents, calls Iraq and Afghanistan “totally different worlds.”

In three combat tours in Anbar Province, Marine Sgt. Jacob Tambunga fought the deadliest insurgents in Iraq.

But he says he never encountered an enemy as tenacious as what he saw immediately after arriving at this outpost in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. In his first days here in late June, he fought through three ambushes, each lasting as long as the most sustained fight he saw in Anbar.

Like other Anbar veterans here, Sergeant Tambunga was surprised to discover guerrillas who, if not as lethal, were bolder than those he fought in Iraq.

“They are two totally different worlds,” said Sergeant Tambunga, a squad leader in Company C, First Battalion, Fifth Marines.

“In Iraq, they’d hit you and run,” he said. “But these guys stick around and maneuver on you.”

They also have a keen sense of when to fight and when the odds against them are too great. Three weeks ago, the American military mounted a 4,000-man Marine offensive in Helmand — the largest since President Obama’s troop increase — and so far in many places, American commanders say, they have encountered less resistance than expected.

Yet it is also clear to many Marines and villagers here that Taliban fighters made a calculated decision: to retreat and regroup to fight where and when they choose. And in the view of troops here who fought intensely in the weeks before the offensive began, fierce battles probably lie ahead if they are to clear the Taliban from sanctuaries so far untouched.

“It was straight luck that we didn’t have a lot more guys hit,” said Sgt. Brandon Tritle, another squad leader in Company C, who cited the Taliban’s skill at laying down a base of fire to mount an attack.

“One force will put enough fire down so you have to keep your heads down, then another force will maneuver around to your side to try to kill you,” he said. “That’s the same thing we do.”

In other parts of Helmand the Taliban have been quick to mount counterattacks. Since the offensive began, 10 Marines have been killed, many of them south of Garmser in areas thick with roadside bombs. In addition, British forces in Helmand, who often travel in lightly armored vehicles, have lost 19 men, all but two from bombs.

All told, Western troops have died in greater numbers in Helmand this month than in any other province in Afghanistan over a similar period since the 2001 invasion.

It is unclear whether the level of casualties will remain this high. But the Taliban can ill afford to lose the Helmand River Valley, a strip of land made arable by a network of canals that nourish the nation’s center for poppy growing.

“This is what fuels the insurgency,” said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine brigade leading the offensive.

For now, the strategy of the Taliban who used to dominate this village, 15 miles south of the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, is to watch and wait just outside, villagers and Marines here say.

“They all escaped,” said Sardar Gul, a shopkeeper at the Nawa bazaar. Mr. Gul and others who reopened stores after the Marines arrived estimate that 300 to 600 Taliban fled to Marjah, 15 miles to the west and not under American control, joining perhaps more than 1,000 fighters.

Marine commanders acknowledge that they could have focused more on cutting off escape routes early in the operation, an issue that often dogged offensives against insurgents in Iraq.

“I wish we had trapped a few more folks,” the commander of First Battalion, Fifth Marines, Lt. Col. William F. McCollough, told the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, who visited Nawa. “I expected there to be more fighting.”

When the full battalion arrived in Nawa in early July, the Taliban “knew we were too powerful for them” and left, said Staff Sgt. Michael Placencia, a platoon sergeant in Company C.

But he predicted the Taliban would stand and fight if Marines were to assault Marjah, describing them as a “more efficient” foe than the insurgents he saw as a squad leader in Anbar in 2005 and 2006.

“They will come back, and they will try to take this back and pin us down,” said Maj. Rob Gallimore, a British officer who trains Afghan soldiers here. He hopes that the Marines do not spread themselves too thin and that they focus instead on building a deep bond with locals in places they occupy, a classic counterinsurgency tactic.

So Marines are bracing for a fight against guerrillas who, they discovered in June, are surprisingly proficient at tactics the Marines themselves learned in infantry school.

“They’d flank us, and we’d flank them, just like a chess match,” said Sgt. Jason Lynd, another squad leader in Company C.

In June the Marines ended up in sustained firefights the first four times they left their outpost. The Taliban were always overmatched — attacking the Marines with only one-third the number of men — but they pressed the fight, laying complex ambushes and then cutting off Marines as they made their way back to base.

One fight began after Marines stopped three vans, which they let go. Fifteen minutes later they took fire from two homes near where they had been pursuing a suspicious man they wanted to question. They cleared both buildings, but were then attacked by gunmen behind the homes, some of whom, the Marines believe, had been in the three vans, a few disguised in burqas.

Somehow, none of the Marines were hit in the secondary ambush. “They tried to suck us in, and their plan worked,” Sergeant Tritle said. “They just missed.”

No Marines were killed in the two weeks they were here in June.

In contrast to Iraqi insurgents, the Taliban do not seem to have access to large artillery shells and other powerful military munitions that Anbar fighters used to kill hundreds of Marines and soldiers. The bombs found so far have been largely homemade with fertilizer, though they have still killed more than 20 British soldiers and United States Marines to the north and south of Nawa.

“If they had better weapons, we’d be in real trouble,” said Lance Cpl. Vazgen Matevosyan.

What the Taliban lack in munitions they make up for in tactics, even practicing “information operations” and disinformation, Marines say. Knowing the Marines listen to their two-way communications, they say, the Taliban describe phony locations of ambushes and bombs.

“They’re not stupid,” said Lance Cpl. Frank Hegel. “You can tell they catch on to things, and they don’t make the same mistake twice.”

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Full article and photo: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/world/asia/26marines.html

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Recovery of Mexican gray wolves remains elusive

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials have been trying to save the endangered Mexican wolf from extinction for almost two decades, says the LAT. The program has been a resounding failure, however, because it tries to micromanage the wolves’ behavior.

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Full article: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wolves26-2009jul26,0,181839.story

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Love in 2-D

Can a person really love a cartoon character? That might sound like a silly question, but animation fans with imaginary paramours tell the NYT that their affection is as real as anyone else’s.

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Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-2DLove-t.html

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Full article: http://www.slate.com/id/2223655/

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/todays-business-press/2009/07/26/antitrust-tug-war

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